CVE-2020-9782
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 parsing issue in the handling of directory paths was addressed with improved path validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.2, Security Update 2019-002 Mojave, and Security Update 2019-007 High Sierra. A remote attacker may be able to overwrite existing 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 confidenceThis is a path traversal vulnerability in macOS where improper validation of directory paths allows a remote attacker to overwrite existing files on the system. The vulnerability stems from insufficient path validation during file handling operations.
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< 10.15.2CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check macOS version installedGo to Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal. The version number is displayed as '10.15.x' or later.Affected if The installed version is earlier than 10.15.2 (for example, 10.15.1, 10.15.0, 10.14.x, etc.)
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Confirm the specific minor versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal to get the exact version number.Affected if The version shown is less than 10.15.2 (for example, 10.15.1) or if the version starts with 10.14 or earlier.
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Check if file handling services are activeReview active processes and services that perform file operations, particularly any third-party or system components that handle external file input.Affected if File handling services are running on an affected macOS version (earlier than 10.15.2).
A user is affected if their macOS version is earlier than 10.15.2 and they use file handling operations that could process untrusted directory paths.
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.
From vendor data10.15.2
Apply the appropriate macOS security update: Catalina 10.15.2, Security Update 2019-002 for Mojave, or Security Update 2019-007 for High Sierra.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9782 — 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-2020-9782 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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- 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
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