dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2016-4649

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-07-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.11.5 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Audio in Apple OS X before 10.11.6 allows local users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) 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

A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the Audio component of Apple OS X versions prior to 10.11.6 allows a local authenticated user to cause a denial of service by triggering the application into dereferencing a null pointer during audio processing operations.

MitigationApply the vendor patch by updating OS X to version 10.11.6 or later, which contains the fix for this Audio subsystem vulnerability.

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:<= 10.11.5

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
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 the installed OS X version
    Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen, then select 'About This Mac'. The version number will be displayed below the Apple logo.
    Affected if The displayed version is 10.11.5 or lower.
  2. Confirm the exact OS X build version
    Run the command 'sw_vers' in Terminal.app or use 'About This Mac' > 'System Report' > 'Software' > 'System Version'.
    Affected if The build version corresponds to OS X 10.11.5 or earlier.
  3. Verify local user access context
    Confirm that local user accounts exist on the system. The vulnerability requires a local authenticated user session.
    Affected if Local user accounts are present and the OS version is 10.11.5 or earlier.

The system is affected if it is running Apple OS X version 10.11.5 or earlier, as the NULL pointer dereference flaw in the Audio component exists in those versions.

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 10.11.5
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch by updating OS X to version 10.11.6 or later, which contains the fix for this Audio subsystem vulnerability.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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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-2016-4649 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