CVE-2021-1763
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 macOS Big Sur 11.2, Security Update 2021-001 Catalina, Security Update 2021-001 Mojave, iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4. Processing a maliciously crafted USD file may lead to unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution.
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 buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Apple's Universal Scene Description (USD) file parsing functionality. Processing a maliciously crafted USD file can trigger a buffer overflow, leading to application denial of service or arbitrary code execution due to insufficient bounds checking during file processing.
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< 14.4< 14.4>= 10.14, < 10.14.6>= 10.15, < 10.15.7= 10.14.6= 10.15.7>= 11.0, < 11.2CVSS 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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Check macOS versionRun 'sw_vers' or go to Apple menu > About This Mac to display the installed macOS version numberAffected if The version is 10.14.x (Mojave) or 10.15.x (Catalina) or 11.0-11.1 (Big Sur less than 11.2)
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Check iOS/iPadOS versionGo to Settings > General > About on the iOS/iPadOS device to view the installed versionAffected if The version is less than 14.4 (iOS/iPadOS 14.3 or earlier)
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Identify if USD file processing tools are installedCheck for the presence of USD tools by running 'which usdview' or 'ls /usr/local/usd' or looking for USD-related applications in /ApplicationsAffected if USD scene description tools or libraries are present on the system, enabling the attack surface
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Verify USD library version if accessibleIf usdview or usdcat tools are installed, run 'usdview --version' or check the library binary version with 'otool -L /path/to/libUsd.dylib'Affected if The USD library version matches the vulnerable versions bundled with the unpatched OS versions identified in step 1 or 2
The system is affected if it runs an unpatched macOS version (10.14.x, 10.15.x, or 11.0-11.1) or iOS/iPadOS version (before 14.4) and has the ability to parse USD files, as the buffer overflow occurs during USD file processing.
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 data10.14.610.15.711.2
Apply the vendor-supplied security updates (macOS Big Sur 11.2, Security Update 2021-001 Catalina/Mojave, iOS/iPadOS 14.4) to address the bounds checking deficiency in USD file processing.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1763 — 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-2021-1763 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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- 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
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