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Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2020-27937

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-04-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.0.1 / 11.2.0 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 logic issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.2, Security Update 2021-001 Catalina, Security Update 2021-001 Mojave, macOS Big Sur 11.0.1. A malicious application may be able to access private information.

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

A logic flaw in macOS state management allowed a locally-running malicious application to bypass privacy controls and access private user information. The vulnerability required the attacker to have the ability to execute code on the target system.

MitigationApply the appropriate macOS security update: macOS Big Sur 11.2 or later, Security Update 2021-001 for Catalina, or Security Update 2021-001 for Mojave.

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:< 11.2.0< 11.0.1

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or click Apple menu > About This Mac
    Affected if Version is 10.14.x, 10.15.x, or any version of 11.x before 11.2.0 (e.g., 11.0, 11.0.1, 11.1)
  2. Confirm Big Sur major version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' and check if the major version starts with 11
    Affected if The version begins with 11 but is earlier than 11.2.0 (such as 11.0.1, 11.1)
  3. Confirm Catalina or Mojave patch level
    For macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or 10.14 (Mojave), check if Security Update 2021-001 has been installed via System Preferences > Software Update
    Affected if Running Catalina or Mojave and Security Update 2021-001 is not installed

You are affected if running macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 or 11.1, or running macOS Catalina/Mojave without the Security Update 2021-001 installed.

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 11.0.1 / 11.2.0 or later
Fixed in 11.0.111.2.0
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate macOS security update: macOS Big Sur 11.2 or later, Security Update 2021-001 for Catalina, or Security Update 2021-001 for Mojave.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA0.5 h
4.5 hours of engineering $800
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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-2020-27937 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