dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2015-3762

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-08-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.10.4 or later.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Text Formats component in Apple OS X before 10.10.5, as used in TextEdit, allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a text file containing an XML external entity declaration in conjunction with an entity reference, related to an XML External Entity (XXE) issue.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

This is an XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in the Text Formats component of Apple OS X before version 10.5, as used by the TextEdit application. Attackers can craft malicious text files containing XML external entity declarations and entity references to read arbitrary files from the system when opened by a user.

MitigationApply Apple security update OS X 10.10.5 or later to patch the Text Formats component, and avoid opening untrusted text or XML files in TextEdit until systems are updated.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:<= 10.10.4

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
None
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check your Mac OS X version
    Click the Apple menu, select 'About This Mac', and note the version number displayed under the OS X name
    Affected if The version shown is 10.10.4 or earlier (any version up to and including 10.10.4)
  2. Confirm TextEdit is the default handler for text files
    Right-click any .txt file in Finder, select 'Get Info', and check the 'Open with' section to see if TextEdit is assigned
    Affected if TextEdit is set as the default application for opening text files
  3. Verify TextEdit handles XML files
    Check if .xml files open in TextEdit by default (or are associated with TextEdit) using the same 'Get Info' method in Finder
    Affected if TextEdit is configured to open XML files

Your environment is affected if you are running Mac OS X 10.10.4 or earlier and use TextEdit to open text or XML files from untrusted sources.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 10.10.4
Interim mitigation

Apply Apple security update OS X 10.10.5 or later to patch the Text Formats component, and avoid opening untrusted text or XML files in TextEdit until systems are updated.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-3762 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-3762 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data