dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2017-13839

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-04-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. macOS before 10.13 is affected. The issue involves the "Spotlight" component. It allows local users to see results for other users' files.

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

Spotlight on macOS before version 10.13 had an information disclosure flaw where it would index and return search results for files owned by other local user accounts. This allowed any local user to discover and view content from other users' files through Spotlight search, bypassing normal file permission controls.

MitigationUpgrade to macOS 10.13 or later, which contains Apple's fix for this Spotlight permission bypass. For systems that cannot be upgraded, restrict Spotlight indexing scope or disable it as a compensating control.

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:= 10.13.0

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Determine the installed macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal to get the exact macOS version number
    Affected if The version is earlier than 10.13 (e.g., 10.12.x, 10.11.x, etc.)
  2. Verify Spotlight indexing is enabled
    Check if Spotlight is actively indexing by running 'mdutil -s /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD' or inspecting System Preferences > Spotlight > Search Results
    Affected if Spotlight indexing is turned ON and the macOS version is below 10.13
  3. Confirm multiple local user accounts exist
    Check for other local users by running 'dscl . -list /Users' in Terminal (excluding system accounts like root, daemon, nobody)
    Affected if There are multiple local user accounts on the system and the macOS version is below 10.13

A system is affected if it is running macOS versions before 10.13, has Spotlight indexing enabled, and has multiple local user accounts present.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to macOS 10.13 or later, which contains Apple's fix for this Spotlight permission bypass. For systems that cannot be upgraded, restrict Spotlight indexing scope or disable it as a compensating control.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-13839 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2017-13839 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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