dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2020-3893

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.15.4 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 input validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.4. A malicious 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

Memory corruption vulnerability in macOS kernel allowing arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges. Fixed through improved input validation. Affects macOS Catalina prior to 10.15.4.

MitigationUpdate to macOS Catalina 10.15.4 or later. As a kernel privilege escalation flaw, immediate patching is critical for systems running affected versions.

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:< 10.15.4

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
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal to retrieve the exact macOS version number
    Affected if Version is below 10.15.4 (e.g., 10.15.3, 10.15.2, etc.)
  2. Confirm macOS name and build
    Run 'sw_vers' to see both product name (should show 'macOS' or 'Mac OS X') and build number (e.g., 19E287)
    Affected if Build number is lower than the build shipped with 10.15.4 (19F77)
  3. Verify OS is Catalina
    Check that the system is running macOS 10.15.x (Catalina) by running 'sw_vers -productVersion' and parsing the major.minor version
    Affected if Version starts with 10.15 but is less than 10.15.4

System is affected if running any macOS version below 10.15.4, specifically any 10.15.x version prior to the 10.15.4 security update.

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 10.15.4 or later
Fixed in 10.15.4
Interim mitigation

Update to macOS Catalina 10.15.4 or later. As a kernel privilege escalation flaw, immediate patching is critical for systems running affected versions.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
34.0 hours of engineering $5,940
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,504.

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-2020-3893 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