CVE-2017-2381
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 10.12.4 is affected. The issue involves the "sudo" component. It allows remote authenticated users to gain privileges by leveraging membership in the admin group on a network directory server.
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 privilege escalation vulnerability in the sudo component of macOS prior to version 10.12.4 allows authenticated users who are members of the admin group on a network directory server (e.g., Active Directory) to gain root privileges. The flaw stems from improper validation of group membership when sudo queries network directory services for authorization.
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<= 10.12.3CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check macOS versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' or check System Preferences > About to determine the installed macOS versionAffected if Version is 10.12.3 or earlier (10.12.0 through 10.12.3)
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Verify network directory bindingCheck if the Mac is bound to a network directory service (such as Active Directory) by inspecting System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Options, or use the 'dsconfigad' command if availableAffected if The system is bound to a network directory server (e.g., Active Directory) for authentication
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Confirm admin group membership from network directoryUse 'dscl' or 'id' command to check if the user belongs to the admin group that originates from the network directory service rather than the local systemAffected if User is a member of an admin group defined in the network directory (not a local admin group)
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Inspect sudo configuration for network group handlingReview the sudoers file (/etc/sudoers) and check for any configurations that grant sudo privileges based on network directory group membershipAffected if Sudo is configured to grant elevated privileges to network directory admin group members
A system is affected if it runs macOS 10.12.3 or earlier, is bound to a network directory server, and has user accounts that are members of admin groups defined in that network directory.
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 dataUpgrade macOS to version 10.12.4 or later to obtain the patched sudo component. For systems that cannot be immediately upgraded, consider restricting sudo privileges for network directory admin group members or implementing additional monitoring.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-2381 — 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-2017-2381 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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