dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2015-3775

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-08-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.10.4 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Apple OS X before 10.10.5 does not properly implement authentication, which allows local users to obtain admin privileges via unspecified vectors.

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 · moderate confidence

This vulnerability in Apple OS X versions prior to 10.10.5 involves improper authentication implementation that allows a local unprivileged user to escalate their privileges to administrator level. The specific authentication mechanism or component affected is not detailed in available documentation.

MitigationUpgrade affected systems to OS X 10.10.5 or later, which contains the proper authentication fix. For organizations unable to upgrade immediately, consider restricting local user access and monitoring for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

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

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. Determine OS X version installed
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or check System Preferences > About
    Affected if The version returned is 10.10.4 or earlier (10.10.0 through 10.10.4)
  2. Verify local user accounts exist
    Check for local non-root users with 'dscl . -list /Users' or via System Preferences > Users & Groups
    Affected if Local user accounts exist on the system (prerequisite for local privilege escalation)
  3. Check current user privileges
    Run 'id' command in Terminal to see current user groups and privileges
    Affected if Current user is not already root/admin but could potentially be escalated (unprivileged local user context)
  4. Audit admin group membership
    Run 'dscl . -read /Groups/admin' to list admin group members
    Affected if Unexpected or unauthorized users appear in admin group, suggesting possible exploitation

The system is affected if OS X version is 10.10.4 or earlier and has local user accounts that could be exploited for privilege escalation.

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

Upgrade affected systems to OS X 10.10.5 or later, which contains the proper authentication fix. For organizations unable to upgrade immediately, consider restricting local user access and monitoring for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2015-3775 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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