dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2020-3915

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-10-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.15.4 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 path handling issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.4. A malicious application may be able to overwrite arbitrary files.

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 path handling vulnerability in macOS Catalina 10.15.4 allowed malicious applications to overwrite arbitrary files on the system due to insufficient path validation. The issue stemmed from improper validation of file paths, likely allowing path traversal sequences (such as '../') to bypass security checks.

MitigationApply macOS Catalina 10.15.4 or later security update. For unpatched systems, restrict execution permissions for untrusted applications and monitor for suspicious file write activity.

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify the installed macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or check System Preferences > About > Version
    Affected if The displayed version is earlier than 10.15.4 (for example, 10.15.3, 10.15.2, etc.)
  2. Confirm the macOS release name
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersionExtra' or check the About window to verify the system is running macOS Catalina
    Affected if The system is macOS Catalina and the version from step 1 is less than 10.15.4
  3. Check for pending system updates
    Open System Preferences > Software Update to see if any updates are available
    Affected if A security update to 10.15.4 or later is available but has not been installed

A system is affected if it runs any version of macOS Catalina earlier than 10.15.4, as the path validation vulnerability exists in those earlier releases.

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

Apply macOS Catalina 10.15.4 or later security update. For unpatched systems, restrict execution permissions for untrusted applications and monitor for suspicious file write activity.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2020-3915 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