dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2019-8781

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.15 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 corruption issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15. An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel 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

Kernel-level memory corruption vulnerability in macOS allowing a local application to escalate privileges to kernel/root level execution via improper state management. The flaw enables arbitrary code execution with the highest system privileges.

MitigationApply macOS Catalina 10.15 or later security update. For systems unable to update, restrict local application execution permissions and monitor for suspicious kernel-level activity.

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:< 10.15

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 installed macOS version
    Click Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal
    Affected if Version is earlier than 10.15 (Catalina) - the vulnerability affects all macOS versions prior to 10.15
  2. Confirm local user application execution is permitted
    Verify that standard user applications can run on the system (this is the default state for macOS)
    Affected if The system allows local applications to execute, which is required for exploitation
  3. Check for kernel extension loading capability
    Run 'kextstat' in Terminal to list loaded kernel extensions, or verify System Integrity Protection is enabled via 'csrutil status'
    Affected if Kernel extensions can be loaded or the system has kernel-level access available to local applications (standard macOS configuration)

The system is affected if it runs macOS versions earlier than 10.15 (Catalina) and allows local application execution, which are the default conditions for vulnerable systems.

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 10.15 or later
Fixed in 10.15
Interim mitigation

Apply macOS Catalina 10.15 or later security update. For systems unable to update, restrict local application execution permissions and monitor for suspicious kernel-level activity.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

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-2019-8781 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