SafariWeb browser · Apple
CVE-2020-9801
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 logic issue was addressed with improved restrictions. This issue is fixed in Safari 13.1.1. A malicious process may cause Safari to launch an application.
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 confidenceA logic flaw in Safari allowed a malicious local process to exploit the browser's application launching functionality to trigger the launch of arbitrary applications. This improper restriction could be leveraged for privilege escalation or to execute unwanted applications in the context of the user's session.
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
SafariWeb browser
< 13.1.1CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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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Verify Safari is installedCheck for Safari application on the system. On macOS: look in /Applications/Safari.app or use 'ls /Applications | grep -i safari'. On Windows: check Program Files or use 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Apple Inc.\Safari' in PowerShell.Affected if Safari is found installed on the system
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Determine installed Safari versionOn macOS: right-click Safari in Applications > Get Info, or run 'defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString'. On Windows: check 'C:\Program Files\Safari\Safari.exe' version properties or look in Add/Remove Programs.Affected if A version number is retrieved from the installation
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Compare version against affected rangeCompare the installed Safari version number to the affected range: versions less than 13.1.1 are vulnerable. Version 13.1.1 and later contain the fix.Affected if Installed version is lower than 13.1.1 (e.g., 13.1.0, 13.0.x, 12.x, etc.)
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Assess local process exposureReview system logs and running processes for any suspicious applications that may have been launched unexpectedly, or check browser extensions that could interact with Safari's URL handling.Affected if Unexpected applications appear to have been launched through Safari's handler
If Safari is installed and the version is lower than 13.1.1, the system is vulnerable to this privilege escalation flaw.
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 data13.1.1
Update Safari to version 13.1.1 or later to apply the improved restrictions that address this logic issue.
Fix this in Safari
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9801 — 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-2020-9801 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