dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2018-4098

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-04-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.13.3 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 10.13.3 is affected. The issue involves the "IOHIDFamily" 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 · high confidence

A memory corruption vulnerability in the IOHIDFamily kernel component (which handles Human Interface Devices like keyboards and game controllers) allows a crafted malicious application to either execute code with kernel-level privileges or cause a denial of service via memory corruption, leading to system instability or complete compromise.

MitigationUpdate macOS to version 10.13.3 or later to patch the vulnerable IOHIDFamily component. Organizations should prioritize patching given the high CVSS score and privilege escalation capability.

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:< 10.13.3

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
    Run 'sw_vers' or go to Apple menu > About This Mac to see the macOS version number
    Affected if The version is below 10.13.3 (e.g., 10.13.2, 10.13.1, 10.13.0, or any earlier release like 10.12.x)
  2. Verify IOHIDFamily kernel extension is loaded
    Run 'kextstat | grep -i IOHIDFamily' in Terminal to list loaded IOHIDFamily-related kernel extensions
    Affected if The command returns any IOHIDFamily-related kexts loaded and the macOS version is below 10.13.3
  3. Check system kernel version/build
    Run 'uname -a' or 'system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType' to view detailed kernel and build information
    Affected if The kernel build date/version corresponds to a release earlier than the 10.13.3 security update

A system is affected if it runs macOS versions earlier than 10.13.3 and has the IOHIDFamily kernel extension loaded, which is present by default on systems with HID support.

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 10.13.3 or later
Fixed in 10.13.3
Interim mitigation

Update macOS to version 10.13.3 or later to patch the vulnerable IOHIDFamily component. Organizations should prioritize patching given the high CVSS score and privilege escalation capability.

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

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-4098 — 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-2018-4098 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