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IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2021-1882

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.4 / 11.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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 memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in Security Update 2021-002 Catalina, iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5, watchOS 7.4, tvOS 14.5, macOS Big Sur 11.3. An application may be able to gain elevated 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 confidence

A memory corruption vulnerability in multiple Apple operating systems (iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, macOS) that allowed a malicious application to gain elevated privileges through improper memory validation. The issue was addressed by implementing improved validation checks.

MitigationApply the relevant security updates: iOS 14.5 and later, iPadOS 14.5 and later, watchOS 7.4 and later, tvOS 14.5 and later, macOS Big Sur 11.3 and later, or Security Update 2021-002 for Catalina.

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:< 14.5
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 14.5
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:>= 10.15, <= 10.15.5= 10.15.6= 10.15.7
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 11.0, < 11.3
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 14.5
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 7.4

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 device and Apple operating system
    Determine whether the device is running iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, or macOS. For macOS, open Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if The OS version matches one of the affected product ranges listed below
  2. Check iOS or iPadOS version on mobile devices
    Go to Settings > General > About > Version. Compare the displayed version number to the affected range: iOS < 14.5 or iPadOS < 14.5
    Affected if The installed iOS version is less than 14.5, or the installed iPadOS version is less than 14.5
  3. Check macOS Catalina (10.15.x) version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal. Affected versions are 10.15, 10.15.1, 10.15.2, 10.15.3, 10.15.4, 10.15.5, 10.15.6, or 10.15.7
    Affected if The macOS version is any release of 10.15.x (Catalina) including 10.15, 10.15.6, or 10.15.7
  4. Check macOS Big Sur (11.x) version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal. The affected range is macOS 11.0 through 11.2.x (any version less than 11.3)
    Affected if The macOS version is 11.0, 11.1, or 11.2 (any version 11.x less than 11.3)
  5. Check watchOS or tvOS version on Apple TV or Apple Watch
    On Apple Watch: open the Watch app on paired iPhone > General > About. On Apple TV: go to Settings > General > About. Compare to affected ranges: watchOS < 7.4 or tvOS < 14.5
    Affected if The watchOS version is less than 7.4, or the tvOS version is less than 14.5

The environment is affected if any Apple device runs an OS version that falls within the vulnerable ranges: iOS/iPadOS < 14.5, watchOS < 7.4, tvOS < 14.5, macOS Catalina (10.15.x), or macOS Big Sur 11.0-11.2.x.

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 7.4 / 11.3 / 14.5 or later
Fixed in 7.411.314.5
Interim mitigation

Apply the relevant security updates: iOS 14.5 and later, iPadOS 14.5 and later, watchOS 7.4 and later, tvOS 14.5 and later, macOS Big Sur 11.3 and later, or Security Update 2021-002 for Catalina.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 14.5/iPadOS 14.5, macOS 11.3, watchOS 7.4, tvOS 14.5, or Security Update 2021-002 for macOS 10.15 Catalina

  1. Identify the device type (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, or Apple TV)
  2. For iPhone/iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS/iPadOS 14.5 or later
  3. For Mac running macOS 10.15 (Catalina): Go to System Preferences > Software Update and install Security Update 2021-002
  4. For Mac running macOS 11.x (Big Sur): Go to System Preferences > Software Update and install macOS 11.3 or later
  5. For Apple Watch: On the iPhone Watch app, go to General > Software Update and install watchOS 7.4 or later
  6. For Apple TV: Go to Settings > System > Software Updates and install tvOS 14.5 or later
  7. After updating, verify the device is running the fixed version
Caveat Security updates typically have minimal compatibility impact; ensure critical applications are compatible with the new OS versions before updating

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

Fix this in Ipados Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,050
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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-2021-1882 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