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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 17 Nov 2021.
IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2021-1782

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-04-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.3 / 10.14.6 or later.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Zero-click

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
A race condition was addressed with improved locking. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.2, Security Update 2021-001 Catalina, Security Update 2021-001 Mojave, watchOS 7.3, tvOS 14.4, iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4. A malicious application may be able to elevate privileges. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited..

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 confidence

This is a race condition vulnerability in Apple's kernel/secure kernel that allows a malicious local application to elevate privileges to root or kernel level. The vulnerability was addressed with improved locking mechanisms. Apple publicly acknowledged this was being actively exploited in the wild as a zero-day.

MitigationApply the appropriate Apple security update for the affected OS version (iOS 14.4, iPadOS 14.4, macOS 11.2/2021-001, watchOS 7.3, tvOS 14.4) to all managed devices. In enterprise environments, verify complete deployment across all endpoints.

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:< 14.4
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 14.4
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:>= 10.14, < 10.14.6>= 10.15, < 10.15.7= 10.14.6= 10.15.7
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 11.0, < 11.2
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 14.4
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 7.3

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the Apple platform and OS version
    On macOS, run 'sw_vers' in Terminal. On iOS/iPadOS, go to Settings > General > About. On watchOS/tvOS, go to Settings > General > About. Note the exact version number displayed.
    Affected if The detected OS version falls into any of these vulnerable ranges: iOS < 14.4, iPadOS < 14.4, watchOS < 7.3, tvOS < 14.4, macOS 10.14.x before 10.14.6, macOS 10.15.x before 10.15.7, or macOS 11.0.x before 11.2.
  2. Confirm macOS version on Mac computers
    Run 'system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType' or check Apple menu > About This Mac to verify the exact macOS version number.
    Affected if The reported version is 10.14, 10.14.1, 10.14.2, 10.14.3, 10.14.4, 10.14.5, 10.14.6, 10.15, 10.15.1, 10.15.2, 10.15.3, 10.15.4, 10.15.5, 10.15.6, 10.15.7, or any 11.0.x version below 11.2.
  3. Verify iOS or iPadOS version on mobile devices
    Navigate to Settings > General > About on the iPhone or iPad and record the Version field.
    Affected if The version shown is below 14.4 (for example, 14.3.x, 14.2.x, 13.x, etc.).

A device is affected if it runs any iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, or macOS version lower than the fixed releases (iOS 14.4, iPadOS 14.4, watchOS 7.3, tvOS 14.4, macOS 10.14.6, macOS 10.15.7, or macOS 11.2).

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 7.3 / 10.14.6 / 10.15.7 or later
Fixed in 7.310.14.610.15.7
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate Apple security update for the affected OS version (iOS 14.4, iPadOS 14.4, macOS 11.2/2021-001, watchOS 7.3, tvOS 14.4) to all managed devices. In enterprise environments, verify complete deployment across all endpoints.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS/iPadOS 14.4+, macOS 11.2+ (Big Sur), Security Update 2021-001 (Catalina/Mojave), watchOS 7.3+, tvOS 14.4+

  1. For iPhone/iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS/iPadOS 14.4 or later
  2. For macOS: Go to System Preferences > Software Update and install the latest security update (macOS Big Sur 11.2, Security Update 2021-001 Catalina, or Security Update 2021-001 Mojave)
  3. For Apple Watch: On your iPhone, open the Watch app, go to General > Software Update, and install watchOS 7.3 or later
  4. For Apple TV: Go to Settings > System > Software Updates and install tvOS 14.4 or later
Caveat Standard OS upgrade considerations apply - review app compatibility and backup data before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Ipados Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-1782 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