CVE-2020-27907
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 · uneditedA memory corruption issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.1, Security Update 2020-001 Catalina, Security Update 2020-007 Mojave, macOS Big Sur 11.0.1. 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 · high confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability in the macOS kernel allows a malicious application to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code with kernel-level privileges. This is a local privilege escalation vector requiring the attacker to first run code on the target system.
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< 11.0.1< 11.1.0CVSS 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check the installed macOS versionOpen Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersionAffected if The version shown is lower than 11.1.0 (for Big Sur) or lower than 11.0.1 (for earlier macOS versions)
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Confirm the macOS release nameRun: sw_vers -productName to identify if the system is running Big Sur, Catalina, or MojaveAffected if Running Big Sur 11.0 or earlier, Catalina 10.15.x, or Mojave 10.14.x without the corresponding security update applied
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Verify if the security update is installedCheck System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General for any recent security updates, or run: defaults read /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist LastRecommendedMajorOSVersionInstalledAffected if The system shows no security update for late 2020 (the patch for this CVE was released November 2020)
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Alternative version check via system reportOpen System Information app and navigate to Software > System Software Overview to view the exact macOS version and build numberAffected if The macOS version displayed falls below 11.1.0 (build 20C69 or later) or 11.0.1 (build 20A241e or later) depending on the major version
A system is affected if it is running any macOS version below 11.1.0 (for Big Sur) or below 11.0.1 (for earlier versions) and has not received the November 2020 security updates.
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 data11.0.111.1.0
Apply the relevant Apple security updates: macOS Big Sur 11.1 (or 11.0.1), Security Update 2020-001 for Catalina, or Security Update 2020-007 for Mojave, depending on the installed OS version.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-27907 — 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-2020-27907 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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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