CVE-2019-13014
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 · uneditedLittle Snitch versions 4.4.0 fixes a vulnerability in a privileged helper tool. However, the operating system may have made a copy of the privileged helper which is not removed or updated immediately. Computers may therefore still be vulnerable after upgrading to 4.4.0. Version 4.4.1 fixes this issue by removing the operating system's copy during the upgrade.
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 confidenceLittle Snitch versions 4.0-4.4.0 contained a vulnerability in a privileged helper tool. While version 4.4.0 fixed the underlying flaw, the operating system may retain a cached copy of the old vulnerable helper that is not automatically updated during the upgrade. This leaves systems vulnerable even after applying the 4.4.0 update. Version 4.4.1 resolves this by explicitly removing the OS's copy of the outdated privileged helper during the upgrade process.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= 4.4.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Check installed Little Snitch versionOpen Little Snitch and go to About Little Snitch, or run: defaults read /Applications/Little\ Snitch.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionStringAffected if Version is 4.4.0 (vulnerable if old helper remains) or any version 4.0-4.4.0 (potentially vulnerable if upgraded to 4.4.0 without 4.4.1)
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Identify privileged helper tool locationCheck for Little Snitch helper in /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/ directory - look for files named com.obdev.LittleSnitchHelper or similarAffected if A helper tool binary exists in this directory from an older installation
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Check helper tool version or timestampRun: ls -la /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/ | grep -i little and examine the file modification date to see if it predates the 4.4.1 release (July 2019)Affected if Helper tool date is before July 2019 or matches the original 4.0-4.4.0 installation date
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Verify if old helper is loaded or runningRun: launchctl list | grep -i littlesnitch or ps aux | grep -i littlesnitch to check for any helper processesAffected if A privileged helper process from an older version appears in running processes
A user is affected if they upgraded to Little Snitch 4.4.0 and the old vulnerable privileged helper remains cached in the system, even if the current version shows 4.4.0 or later.
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 dataUpgrade to Little Snitch version 4.4.1 or later to ensure the old vulnerable privileged helper is removed from the system. Verify the upgrade completed successfully and confirm no legacy helper remains.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-13014 — 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-2019-13014 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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