CVE-2020-9905
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 buffer overflow was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 13.6 and iPadOS 13.6, macOS Catalina 10.15.6, tvOS 13.4.8. A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial of service.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in Apple operating systems (iOS, iPadOS, macOS Catalina, tvOS) with inadequate bounds checking. A remote attacker can exploit this to cause denial of service.
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< 10.15.6< 13.4.8CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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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Check iOS version on iPhoneGo to Settings > General > About > Version, or use Apple Configurator 2, or check via iTunes/finder when device is connectedAffected if Version number is less than 13.6 (e.g., 13.5, 13.4, etc.)
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Check iPadOS version on iPadGo to Settings > General > About > Version, or use Apple Configurator 2, or check via iTunes/finder when device is connectedAffected if Version number is less than 13.6 (e.g., 13.5.5, 13.5, 13.4)
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Check macOS Catalina version on MacClick Apple menu > About This Mac > Overview tab, or run 'sw_vers' in TerminalAffected if Build version is earlier than 10.15.6 (check the macOS version number shown in About This Mac)
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Check tvOS version on Apple TVGo to Settings > General > About > Version, or use Xcode or Apple Configurator 2 when device is connectedAffected if Version number is less than 13.4.8 (e.g., 13.4.5, 13.4, 13.3)
The environment is affected if any Apple device (iPhone, iPad, Mac running Catalina, or Apple TV) is running an OS version lower than the patched releases: iOS/iPadOS 13.6, macOS 10.15.6, or tvOS 13.4.8.
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 data10.15.613.4.813.6
Apply the vendor patches: update to iOS 13.6/iPadOS 13.6, macOS Catalina 10.15.6, or tvOS 13.4.8 or later.
- 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-2020-9905 — 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-2020-9905 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