CVE-2017-13843
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in certain Apple products. macOS before 10.13.1 is affected. The issue involves the "Kernel" component. It allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in a privileged context or 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 · moderate confidenceA kernel vulnerability in macOS versions prior to 10.13.1 allows a crafted application to execute arbitrary code in a privileged kernel context or trigger memory corruption leading to denial of service. The attack requires the attacker to get a malicious app to run on the target system.
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<= 10.13.0CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed macOS versionClick Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal, or run 'system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType'Affected if The reported version is 10.13.0 or earlier (e.g., 10.12.x, 10.11.x, etc.)
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Verify kernel extension load statusRun 'kextstat' in Terminal to list loaded kernel extensions. Review the output for any unfamiliar or suspicious third-party kernel extensions that were not installed by Apple.Affected if Any unknown or untrusted third-party kernel extensions are loaded on an unpatched system (10.13.0 or earlier)
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Inspect recently run applicationsReview Application logs in /var/log or use Activity Monitor to identify any recently launched applications that were not obtained from the Mac App Store or a trusted developer.Affected if A malicious application was able to execute on the system, which on an unpatched kernel could trigger the vulnerability
If the system runs macOS 10.13.0 or earlier, it is vulnerable; the kernel vulnerability is present in these versions and can be triggered by a malicious app running in user space.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply the macOS security update (10.13.1 or later) to patch the kernel vulnerability. Organizations should ensure endpoint protection and restrict app installation sources to reduce attack surface.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-13843 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-13843 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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