dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2016-7600

MEDIUM · 6.2 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-02-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.12.1 or later.
See remediation →
67/100
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 10.12.2 is affected. The issue involves the "OpenPAM" component, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information by leveraging mishandling of failed PAM authentication by a sandboxed 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

This vulnerability in macOS versions prior to 10.12.2 affects the OpenPAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) component. A sandboxed application can mishandle failed PAM authentication attempts, allowing a local user to obtain sensitive information. The flaw enables information disclosure through improper error handling during authentication failures.

MitigationApply macOS security update 10.12.2 or later, which contains Apple's fix for the OpenPAM mishandling of failed authentication. For enterprise environments, deploy the update via MDM or patch management tooling.

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:<= 10.12.1

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

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 installed macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or click Apple menu > About This Mac to view the macOS version number
    Affected if Version is 10.12.1 or earlier (10.12.0, 10.11.x, etc.)
  2. Confirm OpenPAM is in use
    Verify that the system uses OpenPAM for authentication by checking for PAM library presence at /usr/lib/pam/ or examining system authentication configuration
    Affected if System uses OpenPAM (default on macOS) and version is <= 10.12.1
  3. Verify PAM module configuration
    Review PAM configuration files in /etc/pam.d/ directory to confirm PAM-based authentication is enabled for any services
    Affected if PAM authentication is configured and the OS version is <= 10.12.1

If macOS version is 10.12.1 or earlier and the system uses OpenPAM for authentication, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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 10.12.1
Interim mitigation

Apply macOS security update 10.12.2 or later, which contains Apple's fix for the OpenPAM mishandling of failed authentication. For enterprise environments, deploy the update via MDM or patch management tooling.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2016-7600 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