dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2021-1873

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.3 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
An API issue in Accessibility TCC permissions was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.3, Security Update 2021-002 Catalina, Security Update 2021-003 Mojave. A malicious application may be able to unexpectedly leak a user's credentials from secure text fields.

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

An API issue in macOS Accessibility TCC (Transparency, Consent, and Control) permissions allowed a malicious application to unexpectedly leak user credentials from secure text fields due to improper state management. The vulnerability exploited the interaction between accessibility permissions and password/input fields.

MitigationApply the appropriate macOS security updates: Big Sur 11.3, Security Update 2021-002 for Catalina, or Security Update 2021-003 for Mojave. Review applications with Accessibility permissions and revoke if unnecessary.

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
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:>= 10.14, <= 10.14.5>= 10.15, <= 10.15.5= 10.14.6= 10.15.6= 10.15.7
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 11.0, < 11.3

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Check macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal to get the installed macOS version
    Affected if The version falls within 10.14 to 10.14.5, 10.15 to 10.15.7, or 11.0 to 11.2.x (anything less than 11.3)
  2. Verify Accessibility permissions are granted
    Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility, or run 'sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db "SELECT client,auth_value FROM access WHERE service='kTCCServiceAccessibility'"' to see which apps have Accessibility access
    Affected if Any third-party applications are listed with Accessibility permissions enabled (the vulnerability requires an app with this permission to exploit the flaw)

You are affected if your macOS version is 10.14.6, 10.15.6, 10.15.7, or any 10.14.x/10.15.x up to the .5 patches, or 11.0-11.2.x, AND you have granted Accessibility permissions to any applications.

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 11.3 or later
Fixed in 11.3
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate macOS security updates: Big Sur 11.3, Security Update 2021-002 for Catalina, or Security Update 2021-003 for Mojave. Review applications with Accessibility permissions and revoke if unnecessary.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Big Sur 11.3, Security Update 2021-002 Catalina, or Security Update 2021-003 Mojave (depending on current OS version)

  1. Identify the current macOS version by clicking the Apple menu and selecting About This Mac
  2. For macOS Mojave (10.14.x): Install Security Update 2021-003 by going to System Preferences > Software Update
  3. For macOS Catalina (10.15.x): Install Security Update 2021-002 by going to System Preferences > Software Update
  4. For macOS Big Sur (11.0-11.2.x): Upgrade to macOS Big Sur 11.3 or later via System Preferences > Software Update
  5. Restart the computer after installing the update
  6. Verify the installation by checking System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General to confirm no additional updates are available
Caveat Security updates are typically low-risk; however, if upgrading from Mojave/Catalina to Big Sur, review app compatibility first

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

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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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-2021-1873 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