dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2019-8629

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.14.5 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 memory initialization issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Mojave 10.14.5. An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges.

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

Memory initialization vulnerability in macOS Mojave allows a local application to execute arbitrary code with system (root) privileges due to improper memory handling during initialization.

MitigationApply macOS Mojave 10.14.5 or later security update. As this is a local privilege escalation, ensure least-privilege principles and restrict local application execution permissions where possible.

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:< 10.14.5

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:3.1/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. Check macOS version installed
    Open Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if Version displayed is below 10.14.5 (for example, 10.14.4, 10.14.3, 10.14.2, etc.)
  2. Confirm macOS Mojave release
    Run: uname -r or check System Preferences > About This Mac to verify the major version is 18 (Darwin 18.x corresponds to macOS Mojave 10.14.x)
    Affected if Kernel version indicates Mojave (10.14.x) AND version is below 10.14.5
  3. Check system update status
    Run: defaults read /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist ProductVersion to see the exact installed version
    Affected if The version listed is any release prior to 10.14.5 (such as 10.14, 10.14.1, 10.14.2, 10.14.3, or 10.14.4)
  4. Verify Security Update installation
    Check System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General for installed security updates, or run: system_profiler SPInstallHistoryDataType 2>/dev/null | grep -i 'security update'
    Affected if No security update to macOS Mojave 10.14.5 or later appears in the update history

If the system runs macOS Mojave 10.14.x with a version number lower than 10.14.5, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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 10.14.5 or later
Fixed in 10.14.5
Interim mitigation

Apply macOS Mojave 10.14.5 or later security update. As this is a local privilege escalation, ensure least-privilege principles and restrict local application execution permissions where possible.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,920
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,072.

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-2019-8629 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