CVE-2019-8770
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 · uneditedThe issue was addressed with improved permissions logic. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15. A malicious application may be able to access recent documents.
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 confidenceA local malicious application in macOS Catalina 10.15 can bypass permission controls to access recent documents due to flawed permissions logic. This is an information disclosure vulnerability that was patched through improved permissions enforcement in the OS.
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< 10.15CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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.
-
Identify the macOS versionGo to Apple menu > About This Mac to view the macOS version numberAffected if The system is running any version of macOS prior to 10.15 (Catalina), or is running the initial 10.15 release without subsequent security updates
-
Check the macOS build numberRun 'sw_vers -buildVersion' in TerminalAffected if The build version is older than the security update that addresses this vulnerability (builds prior to the Catalina security patches)
-
Verify recent documents accessibilityCheck if a standard user account without admin privileges can access another user's recent documents by examining ~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/ or the Recent Items folderAffected if Non-admin users can access recent document lists belonging to other user accounts
-
Confirm user account typesRun 'dscl . -list /Users' and check for multiple user accounts with varying privilege levelsAffected if Multiple user accounts exist on the system and the vulnerability allows one user to view another's recent documents
A system is affected if it is running a version of macOS prior to the Catalina security update that patched this permissions bypass vulnerability, allowing unauthorized access to recent documents across user accounts.
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 data10.15
Apply the macOS Catalina 10.15 security update (or upgrade to a later supported macOS version) to receive the improved permissions logic that prevents unauthorized access to recent documents.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-8770 — 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-2019-8770 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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