CVE-2017-7121
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 is affected. The issue involves the third-party "file" product. Versions before 5.30 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact.
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 vulnerability in the 'file' utility (versions before 5.30) present in macOS prior to 10.13 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service through application crash, with potential for unspecified other impact. The vulnerability is exploitable remotely and carries a critical CVSS 9.8 rating.
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<= 10.12.6CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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.
-
Check macOS versionGo to Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in TerminalAffected if Version is 10.12.6 or earlier (below 10.13)
-
Check file utility versionRun 'file --version' or 'file -v' in Terminal to display the version numberAffected if Version displayed is before 5.30 (e.g., 5.x versions below 5.30)
-
Verify both conditionsCompare your findings from steps 1 and 2 against the affected rangesAffected if Running macOS 10.12.6 or earlier AND file utility version is before 5.30
A system is affected if it runs macOS 10.12.6 or earlier with a file utility version prior to 5.30.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpdate the 'file' utility to version 5.30 or later, and upgrade macOS to version 10.13 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network exposure to systems processing untrusted file types.
macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or later
- Back up all important data before proceeding with the OS upgrade
- Upgrade macOS to version 10.13 (High Sierra) or later. This can be done via the Mac App Store or by downloading the installer from Apple
- After upgrading, verify the "file" utility version is 5.30 or later by running: file --version
- Confirm the vulnerability is remediated by ensuring the file utility no longer crashes on malformed input
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-7121 — 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-2017-7121 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
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.
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.
- 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