dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2016-4736

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-09-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.11.6 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
libarchive in Apple OS X before 10.12 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted file.

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 memory corruption vulnerability exists in libarchive in Apple OS X versions prior to 10.12. The flaw is triggered when processing a crafted archive file, allowing remote attackers to cause a denial of service through memory corruption or potentially achieve unspecified other impact.

MitigationApply the Apple OS X 10.12 or later security update to patch libarchive. For systems that cannot be updated, implement file type validation and restrict processing of untrusted archive files until the patch can be applied.

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:<= 10.11.6

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 your macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or click Apple menu > About This Mac
    Affected if The version is 10.11.6 or earlier (10.11.0 through 10.11.6)
  2. Confirm libarchive library presence
    Run 'ls /usr/lib/libarchive*' in Terminal to list installed libarchive libraries
    Affected if Any libarchive library version exists on the system
  3. Identify processes using libarchive
    Run 'lsof | grep libarchive' or 'vmmap <process> | grep libarchive' to find applications that load the library
    Affected if Any user-facing or automated process loads libarchive to handle archive files
  4. Assess archive processing exposure
    Review any services, scripts, or applications that accept archive files from users or network sources
    Affected if Untrusted archive files can be processed by libarchive-enabled software

You are affected if your macOS version is 10.11.6 or earlier AND you have software that uses libarchive to process incoming archive files.

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 10.11.6
Interim mitigation

Apply the Apple OS X 10.12 or later security update to patch libarchive. For systems that cannot be updated, implement file type validation and restrict processing of untrusted archive files until the patch can be applied.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2016-4736 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