dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2016-7585

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-04-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.12.3 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. macOS before 10.12.4 is affected. The issue involves mishandling of DMA in the "EFI" component. It allows physically proximate attackers to discover the FileVault 2 encryption password via a crafted Thunderbolt adapter.

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 vulnerability in macOS EFI firmware allows physically proximate attackers with a crafted Thunderbolt adapter to perform DMA attacks and extract FileVault 2 encryption passwords from memory. The EFI component fails to properly validate or restrict DMA requests from Thunderbolt devices, enabling memory access beyond what should be permitted.

MitigationUpdate macOS to 10.12.4 or later, which includes the necessary EFI firmware fix. For enterprise environments, deploy the update via MDM and verify the firmware version has been patched.

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:<= 10.12.3

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or open Apple menu > About This Mac
    Affected if Version is 10.12.3 or earlier (10.12.0 through 10.12.3)
  2. Check EFI firmware version
    Run 'system_profiler SPHardwareDataType' in Terminal and look for 'EFI Version' in the output, or open System Information > Hardware
    Affected if EFI firmware version is earlier than the fixed version for 10.12.4 (specific build-dependent)
  3. Verify if FileVault is enabled
    Run 'sudo fdesetup status' in Terminal
    Affected if FileVault is turned on (the vulnerability enables extraction of FileVault passwords)
  4. Check Thunderbolt device connectivity
    Run 'system_profiler SPThunderboltDataType' in Terminal or inspect System Information > Thunderbolt
    Affected if Thunderbolt devices are connected or have been connected (attack requires physical access via Thunderbolt)

A system is affected if running macOS 10.12.3 or earlier with vulnerable EFI firmware, FileVault enabled, and Thunderbolt ports accessible to physical attackers.

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 10.12.3
Interim mitigation

Update macOS to 10.12.4 or later, which includes the necessary EFI firmware fix. For enterprise environments, deploy the update via MDM and verify the firmware version has been patched.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
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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-2016-7585 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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