dbcve.org
IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2020-3831

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-02-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.3.1 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
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 race condition was addressed with improved locking. This issue is fixed in iOS 13.3.1 and iPadOS 13.3.1. 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 confidence

CVE-2020-3831 is a race condition vulnerability in the iOS/iPadOS kernel that allows a malicious application to achieve arbitrary code execution with kernel-level privileges. The vulnerability was addressed through improved locking mechanisms in iOS 13.3.1 and iPadOS 13.3.1.

MitigationApply iOS 13.3.1 or later / iPadOS 13.3.1 or later to affected devices to remediate the kernel privilege escalation vulnerability.

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
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 13.3.1
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 13.3.1

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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. Identify the device type
    Determine whether the Apple device is an iPhone or iPad. On the device, go to Settings > General > About and look at the model name or model number to confirm the device type.
    Affected if The device is an Apple iPhone or iPad running an affected operating system.
  2. Check the iOS version on iPhone
    On an iPhone, go to Settings > General > About > Version. This displays the installed iOS version number (for example, 13.3, 13.2.3, etc.).
    Affected if The iOS version displayed is lower than 13.3.1.
  3. Check the iPadOS version on iPad
    On an iPad, go to Settings > General > About > Version. This displays the installed iPadOS version number.
    Affected if The iPadOS version displayed is lower than 13.3.1.
  4. Verify the complete version string
    In the same About screen, note the full version string including any build number (for example, 17D47). Compare your version and build against Apple's official release notes for 13.3.1.
    Affected if The installed version is any build of iOS or iPadOS prior to the 13.3.1 release.

A device is affected if it is an iPhone or iPad running any version of iOS or iPadOS older than 13.3.1.

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 13.3.1 or later
Fixed in 13.3.1
Interim mitigation

Apply iOS 13.3.1 or later / iPadOS 13.3.1 or later to affected devices to remediate the kernel privilege escalation vulnerability.

Fix this in Ipados 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
Get the upgrade done

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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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2020-3831 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