CVE-2020-3848
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 input validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.3. A remote attacker may be able to cause unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution.
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 confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability in macOS Catalina allows remote attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution or cause application termination. The fix implements improved input validation, suggesting the vulnerability stemmed from insufficient bounds checking or improper input sanitization that could be triggered remotely.
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< 10.15.3CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 installed macOS versionOpen Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersionAffected if The reported version is lower than 10.15.3 (for example, 10.15.2, 10.15.1, or 10.15)
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Confirm macOS nameRun: sw_vers -productName in Terminal to verify the system is macOS CatalinaAffected if The product name shows anything other than macOS Catalina (this CVE specifically affects Catalina, not other macOS versions)
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Verify security update statusCheck System Preferences > Security & Privacy for recent security updates, or run: defaults read /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist LastSuccessfulDateAffected if No security update installed after January 2020, or the system shows version 10.15.3 without having received the corresponding security patch
The system is affected if it is running macOS Catalina with a version lower than 10.15.3 and has not received the corresponding security update.
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.
dbcve · scoped10.15.3
Apply macOS Catalina 10.15.3 or later security update to vulnerable systems. Prioritize externally-facing systems and those processing untrusted network input given the remote attack vector and code execution capability.
macOS Catalina 10.15.3 or later
- Back up important data before performing the upgrade
- Open System Preferences > Software Update
- Click 'Update Now' to download and install macOS Catalina 10.15.3
- Alternatively, download macOS Catalina 10.15.3 from the Mac App Store and run the installer manually
- Restart the system when prompted to complete the installation
- Verify the installed version by clicking Apple menu > About This Mac
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3848 — 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-2020-3848 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