dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2017-2421

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-04-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.12.3 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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 the "AppleGraphicsPowerManagement" component. A race condition allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in a privileged context 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 · high confidence

CVE-2017-2421 is a race condition vulnerability in the AppleGraphicsPowerManagement component of macOS versions prior to 10.12.4. The flaw allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges by leveraging the race condition through a specially crafted application.

MitigationUpdate macOS to version 10.12.4 or later to remediate this vulnerability. This is a straightforward OS patch deployment.

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed macOS version
    Open Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if The version displayed is 10.12.3 or earlier (any version <= 10.12.3)
  2. Confirm macOS build date if version shows 10.12.x
    Run: sw_vers -buildVersion and cross-reference with Apple security update release dates for 10.12.4
    Affected if Build version corresponds to a release prior to the 10.12.4 security update (released March 2017)
  3. Verify AppleGraphicsPowerManagement component presence
    Run: ls -la /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGraphicsPowerManagement.framework/ 2>/dev/null
    Affected if The framework exists and was not patched (file modification date prior to March 2017 security patches)

You are affected if your macOS version is 10.12.3 or earlier, or if you have not applied the March 2017 security update that addressed 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 10.12.3
Interim mitigation

Update macOS to version 10.12.4 or later to remediate this vulnerability. This is a straightforward OS patch deployment.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2017-2421 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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