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Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2016-4663

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-02-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.12.0 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. macOS before 10.12.1 is affected. The issue involves the "NVIDIA Graphics Drivers" component. It allows attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted app.

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

A memory corruption vulnerability in NVIDIA Graphics Drivers for macOS allows a crafted application to cause a denial of service. The vulnerability is triggered when a user runs a malicious app that exploits improper memory handling in the graphics driver.

MitigationUpdate macOS to version 10.12.1 or later, which includes the patched NVIDIA Graphics Drivers. This is a user-initiated attack requiring execution of a malicious application.

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:<= 10.12.0

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or go to Apple menu > About This Mac
    Affected if Version is 10.12.0 or earlier (e.g., 10.11.x, 10.10.x, etc.)
  2. Identify NVIDIA GPU hardware
    Run 'system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType' in Terminal or check System Report > Graphics
    Affected if System has an NVIDIA GPU (the vulnerability exists in NVIDIA graphics drivers for macOS)
  3. Assess application execution policy
    Review which applications are allowed to run: check Gatekeeper settings with 'spctl --status' and review Applications folder for untrusted or unknown apps
    Affected if Users routinely run applications from untrusted or unknown sources, enabling the malicious app attack vector

You are affected if running macOS 10.12.0 or earlier on a system with an NVIDIA GPU and users may execute untrusted applications.

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 10.12.0
Interim mitigation

Update macOS to version 10.12.1 or later, which includes the patched NVIDIA Graphics Drivers. This is a user-initiated attack requiring execution of a malicious application.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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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-2016-4663 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