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IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2020-9852

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-06-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.2.5 / 10.15.5 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
An integer overflow was addressed through improved input validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 13.5 and iPadOS 13.5, macOS Catalina 10.15.5, tvOS 13.4.5, watchOS 6.2.5. 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 · high confidence

Integer overflow vulnerability in Apple kernel components (iOS, iPadOS, macOS Catalina, tvOS, watchOS) allows a malicious local application to execute arbitrary code with kernel-level privileges due to insufficient input validation.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches: update to iOS 13.5+, iPadOS 13.5+, macOS 10.15.5+, tvOS 13.4.5+, and watchOS 6.2.5+. This is a local privilege escalation requiring a malicious app to already be present on the device, so also restrict app installation sources to trusted channels.

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
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 13.5
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 13.5
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:< 10.15.5
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 13.4.5
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 6.2.5

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 iOS version on iPhone
    Open Settings > General > About > Version and note the build number
    Affected if Version is below 13.5 (for example, 13.4.x or earlier)
  2. Check iPadOS version on iPad
    Open Settings > General > About > Version and note the build number
    Affected if Version is below 13.5 (for example, 13.4.x or earlier)
  3. Check macOS version
    Click the Apple menu > About This Mac > Display the version number shown under the macOS name
    Affected if Version is below 10.15.5 (for example, 10.15.4 or earlier)
  4. Check tvOS version
    Open Settings > General > About > Version on the Apple TV device
    Affected if Version is below 13.4.5 (for example, 13.4.x or earlier)
  5. Check watchOS version
    On the paired iPhone, open the Watch app > My Watch tab > General > About > Software Version
    Affected if Version is below 6.2.5 (for example, 6.2.4 or earlier)

A device is affected if it runs any of the listed operating systems at a version lower than the fixed release (iOS/iPadOS 13.5+, macOS 10.15.5+, tvOS 13.4.5+, watchOS 6.2.5+).

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 6.2.5 / 10.15.5 / 13.4.5 or later
Fixed in 6.2.510.15.513.4.5
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches: update to iOS 13.5+, iPadOS 13.5+, macOS 10.15.5+, tvOS 13.4.5+, and watchOS 6.2.5+. This is a local privilege escalation requiring a malicious app to already be present on the device, so also restrict app installation sources to trusted channels.

Fix this in Ipados Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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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-2020-9852 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