dbcve.org
Airport Base Station FirmwareOperating system · Apple

CVE-2019-8588

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-10-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.8.1 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A null pointer dereference was addressed with improved input validation. This issue is fixed in AirPort Base Station Firmware Update 7.8.1, AirPort Base Station Firmware Update 7.9.1. A remote attacker may be able to cause a system denial of service.

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 null pointer dereference vulnerability in Apple AirPort Base Station firmware allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service by sending specially crafted input that triggers the null pointer dereference. The vulnerability affects firmware versions prior to 7.8.1 and 7.9.1.

MitigationApply the appropriate firmware update (7.8.1 or 7.9.1) from Apple to all affected AirPort Base Station devices. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the device or place it behind a firewall to reduce attack surface.

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
Airport Base Station FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 7.8.1

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 AirPort Base Station devices on the network
    Scan your network for Apple AirPort Base Station devices by checking for devices with Apple hardware MAC addresses (prefixes like 00:1F:F3, 00:22:41, 00:25:4B, 00:26:08, 00:50:E4, 00:56:CD, 00:62:EC, 00:6D:52, 00:85:A2, 00:8D:37, 00:B3:62, 00:C0:D6, 00:D0:2B, 00:D4:F6, 00:DA:E5, 00:DB:FA, 00:E4:54, 00:E9:BB, 00:F4:B5, 00:F7:6F, 00:FC:C0, 00:FE:C3, 00:FF:8A, 01:07:7D, 01:0A:9A, 01:1C:43, 01:2C:C2, 01:35:FA, 01:38:87, 01:46:31, 01:4A:CC, 01:68:32, 01:7C:00, 01:85:56, 01:88:5C, 01:98:97, 01:A4:63, 01:D4:1D, 02:0C:CE, 02:15:52, 02:1C:91, 02:1D:2A, 02:24:FB, 02:26:08, 02:3F:69, 02:40:17, 02:48:01,
    Affected if AirPort Base Station devices are present on the network.
  2. Access the AirPort Base Station admin interface
    Open a web browser and navigate to the IP address of the AirPort Base Station (commonly 10.0.1.1 for default configurations). Log in to the admin interface using the device password. Navigate to the summary or status page to view the firmware version information.
    Affected if The admin interface is accessible and displays the current firmware version.
  3. Verify the installed firmware version
    Locate the firmware version displayed on the AirPort Base Station admin interface, typically shown on the main summary or status page. Note the exact firmware version number displayed.
    Affected if The firmware version shown on the device is less than 7.8.1.
  4. Confirm network accessibility of the device
    Verify that the AirPort Base Station is reachable on the network by pinging its IP address or attempting to access its web admin interface from another device on the same network.
    Affected if The AirPort Base Station is network-accessible, which is required for remote exploitation.

Your environment is affected if you have an Apple AirPort Base Station running firmware version 7.8.1 or lower that is accessible on your network.

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 7.8.1 or later
Fixed in 7.8.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate firmware update (7.8.1 or 7.9.1) from Apple to all affected AirPort Base Station devices. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the device or place it behind a firewall to reduce attack surface.

Fix this in Airport Base Station Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-8588 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