dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2018-4285

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-04-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.13.6 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
A type confusion issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue affected versions prior to macOS High Sierra 10.13.6.

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 confidence

A type confusion vulnerability in macOS High Sierra allowed memory corruption through improper type handling during object operations. The issue stemmed from insufficient validation of object types before memory operations, which could lead to arbitrary code execution or system instability. Apple addressed this with improved memory handling and type checking in the security update.

MitigationUpdate macOS High Sierra to version 10.13.6 or later to receive the security patch. Organizations should apply operating system updates promptly and verify patch deployment across managed endpoints.

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:< 10.13.6

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. Identify the installed macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal, or go to Apple menu > About This Mac to view the version number
    Affected if The version displayed is below 10.13.6 (for example, 10.13.5, 10.13.4, etc.)
  2. Confirm the macOS release name
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' and check if the major version starts with 10.13 (High Sierra)
    Affected if The system is running macOS High Sierra (10.13.x) with a version lower than 10.13.6
  3. Verify the Security Update status
    Check System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General to see if any recent security updates are installed, or review the build number via 'sw_vers -buildVersion'
    Affected if The build number corresponds to a pre-10.13.6 release and no security update for CVE-2018-4285 appears in the update history

You are affected if your Mac runs any version of macOS High Sierra earlier than 10.13.6, as the type confusion vulnerability exists in the older OS builds.

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 10.13.6 or later
Fixed in 10.13.6
Interim mitigation

Update macOS High Sierra to version 10.13.6 or later to receive the security patch. Organizations should apply operating system updates promptly and verify patch deployment across managed endpoints.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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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-2018-4285 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