CVE-2020-9996
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 use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, iOS 14.0 and iPadOS 14.0. A malicious application may be able to elevate 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 · moderate confidenceA use-after-free vulnerability in Apple's memory management within macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, iOS 14.0, and iPadOS 14.0 allows a malicious locally-running application to potentially elevate privileges to root or kernel level by exploiting improperly freed memory objects.
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< 14.0< 14.0< 11.0.1CVSS 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Apple operating systemOn macOS, run 'sw_vers' in Terminal. On iOS/iPadOS, go to Settings > General > About to see the version.Affected if The device runs macOS, iOS, or iPadOS
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Check macOS versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or view the version in System Preferences > About.Affected if The version is below 11.0.1 (e.g., 10.15.x, 11.0.0)
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Check iOS versionOpen Settings > General > About on the iPhone and note the version number.Affected if The version is below 14.0 (e.g., 13.x)
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Check iPadOS versionOpen Settings > General > About on the iPad and note the version number.Affected if The version is below 14.0 (e.g., 13.x)
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Verify if any applicable security updates are installedOn macOS, check System Preferences > Software Update. On iOS/iPadOS, check Settings > General > Software Update.Affected if The OS has not been updated to the patched version (macOS 11.0.1+, iOS 14.0+, iPadOS 14.0+)
A user is affected if their device runs any version of macOS before 11.0.1, iOS before 14.0, or iPadOS before 14.0, as the use-after-free vulnerability exists in the older memory management code.
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 data11.0.114.0
Apply the vendor-supplied OS updates (macOS Big Sur 11.0.1+, iOS 14.0+, iPadOS 14.0+) to all affected devices. For enterprise environments, deploy via MDM and verify successful installation.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9996 — 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-2020-9996 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