CVE-2018-4156
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. iOS before 11.3 is affected. macOS before 10.13.4 is affected. The issue involves the "PluginKit" 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 · moderate confidenceCVE-2018-4156 is a race condition vulnerability in Apple's PluginKit framework affecting iOS before 11.3 and macOS before 10.13.4. The flaw allows a malicious crafted application to execute arbitrary code in a privileged context by exploiting the race condition during plugin/extension loading. PluginKit manages app extensions and third-party plugins, and the race condition occurs during the initialization process.
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< 11.3< 10.13.4CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/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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Identify the device typeDetermine whether the system is an iOS device (iPhone/iPad) or a Mac computer running macOSAffected if Device runs either iOS or macOS operating system
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Check iOS version on iPhone or iPadOn iOS device, go to Settings > General > About and note the Version numberAffected if iOS version is less than 11.3 (for example, 11.2.x or earlier)
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Check macOS version on MacOn Mac, click Apple menu > About This Mac and note the macOS version displayedAffected if macOS version is less than 10.13.4 (for example, 10.13.3 or earlier)
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Verify PluginKit framework presenceThe PluginKit framework is a system component present on both iOS and macOS. It cannot be independently disabled as it manages app extensions and plugins system-wide.Affected if System runs a vulnerable OS version as identified in steps 2 or 3
A system is affected if it runs iOS versions before 11.3 or macOS versions before 10.13.4, as the race condition vulnerability exists in the PluginKit framework of those older versions.
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 data10.13.411.3
Update affected devices to iOS 11.3 or later and macOS 10.13.4 or later. Until updates are applied, restrict app installations to trusted sources only and avoid sideloading applications from untrusted developers.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-4156 — 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-2018-4156 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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