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Apple TvApplication · Apple

CVE-2018-4298

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-01-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.2.2 / 10.13.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
In macOS High Sierra before 10.13.3, Security Update 2018-001 Sierra, and Security Update 2018-001 El Capitan, a permissions issue existed in Remote Management. This issue was addressed through improved permission validation.

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 permissions validation flaw in Remote Management (Apple Remote Desktop) in macOS High Sierra, Sierra, and El Capitan allowed unauthorized users to potentially access or control systems remotely due to insufficient permission checks in the Remote Management service.

MitigationApply the applicable security update (macOS 10.13.3, Security Update 2018-001 Sierra, or Security Update 2018-001 El Capitan) to patch the permission validation issue, and review Remote Management user access controls post-update.

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
Apple TvApplication
Affected:< 11.2.5
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 11.2.5
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:>= 10.13.0, < 10.13.3
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 4.2.2

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal to determine the installed macOS version
    Affected if The version is 10.13.0, 10.13.1, or 10.13.2 (any version >= 10.13.0 and < 10.13.3)
  2. Verify Remote Management is enabled
    Open System Preferences > Sharing, or run 'system_profiler SPNetworkDataType | grep -i remote' to check if Remote Management service is active
    Affected if Remote Management (Apple Remote Desktop) is currently enabled on the system
  3. Inspect Remote Management user access
    Open System Preferences > Sharing > Remote Management, then click Computer Settings to view who has access. Alternatively, query the ARD service configuration via 'sudo /usr/libexec/RemoteManagement' or check /Library/Preferences/com.apple.RemoteManagement.plist for authorized users
    Affected if Remote Management is enabled without proper user access controls configured, or allows 'All users' access

A system is affected if it runs macOS 10.13.0 through 10.13.2 AND has Remote Management enabled with insufficient permission controls, allowing potential unauthorized remote access.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.2.2 / 10.13.3 / 11.2.5 or later
Fixed in 4.2.210.13.311.2.5
Interim mitigation

Apply the applicable security update (macOS 10.13.3, Security Update 2018-001 Sierra, or Security Update 2018-001 El Capitan) to patch the permission validation issue, and review Remote Management user access controls post-update.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS High Sierra 10.13.3, iOS 11.2.5, tvOS 11.2.5, watchOS 4.2.2, or Security Update 2018-001 for Sierra/El Capitan

  1. Identify the current OS version on the affected device (Apple TV, iPhone, Mac, or Apple Watch)
  2. For macOS High Sierra: Navigate to Apple menu > About This Mac to check the version number
  3. For iOS: Go to Settings > General > About to check the version
  4. For tvOS: Go to Settings > General > About to check the version
  5. For watchOS: Open the Watch app on iPhone > General > About to check the version
  6. Upgrade to the fixed version: macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 or later, iOS 11.2.5 or later, tvOS 11.2.5 or later, or watchOS 4.2.2 or later
  7. On macOS, install Security Update 2018-001 for Sierra or El Capitan if upgrading to the latest macOS is not possible
  8. After upgrading, verify the new version is installed by checking About This Mac or Settings > General > About
Caveat Standard upgrade risks apply - ensure backups exist before updating, and verify application compatibility with the new OS version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Apple Tv Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2018-4298 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