CVE-2020-9898
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 · uneditedThis issue was addressed with improved entitlements. This issue is fixed in iOS 13.6 and iPadOS 13.6, macOS Catalina 10.15.6. A sandboxed process may be able to circumvent sandbox restrictions.
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 confidenceA sandbox escape vulnerability in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Catalina allowed sandboxed processes to circumvent sandbox restrictions due to overly permissive or incorrectly configured entitlements. The fix involved improved entitlement configurations to properly restrict sandboxed processes.
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< 13.6< 13.6>= 10.13.6, < 10.15.6CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the operating system and versionOn macOS, run 'sw_vers' or go to Apple menu > About This Mac. On iOS/iPadOS, go to Settings > General > About to see the version number.Affected if The detected OS is macOS, iOS, or iPadOS and the version falls within the affected range.
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Check macOS version against affected rangeIf running macOS, compare the installed version (such as 10.15.5, 10.14.6, or 10.13.6) to the range >= 10.13.6 and < 10.15.6. Versions 10.13.6 through 10.15.5 are affected.Affected if The macOS version is 10.13.6, 10.13.7, 10.14.x, or 10.15.0 through 10.15.5.
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Check iOS version against affected rangeIf running iPhone, go to Settings > General > About and note the iOS version number (for example, 13.5). Compare to the threshold of 13.6.Affected if The iOS version is any version lower than 13.6 (such as 13.5.5, 13.5.1, 13.4, etc.).
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Check iPadOS version against affected rangeIf running iPad, go to Settings > General > About and note the iPadOS version number. Compare to the threshold of 13.6.Affected if The iPadOS version is any version lower than 13.6 (such as 13.5.5, 13.5.1, 13.4, etc.).
You are affected if the device runs macOS between 10.13.6 and 10.15.5 inclusive, or iOS/iPadOS version 13.5 or lower.
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.
dbcve · scoped10.15.613.6
Update affected devices to iOS 13.6/iPadOS 13.6 or macOS Catalina 10.15.6 or later to apply the corrected entitlements. No workarounds are available.
iOS 13.6+, iPadOS 13.6+, macOS Catalina 10.15.6+
- For iOS devices: Back up your device data, then go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 13.6 or later
- For iPadOS devices: Back up your device data, then go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iPadOS 13.6 or later
- For macOS: Back up your Mac using Time Machine, then go to System Preferences > Software Update and install macOS Catalina 10.15.6 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9898 — 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-2020-9898 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