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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.
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2021-30713

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.4 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 permissions issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.4. A malicious application may be able to bypass Privacy preferences. 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 local permission bypass vulnerability in macOS Big Sur that allows a malicious application to circumvent Privacy preferences controls. The flaw enables unauthorized access to protected system resources such as camera, microphone, contacts, or other sensitive user data without requiring user consent. Apple has confirmed active exploitation in the wild.

MitigationApply macOS Big Sur 11.4 or later security update to all affected macOS systems to remediate this vulnerability.

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:>= 10.15, <= 10.15.7= 10.15.7
macOSOperating system
Affected:< 11.4

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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 installed macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or click Apple menu > About This Mac
    Affected if The version is 10.15.x (Catalina) or any version below 11.4 (pre-update Big Sur)
  2. Confirm macOS build matches affected 10.15.7 releases
    Run 'sw_vers -buildVersion' and compare against Apple security notes for 10.15.7 (specific builds include 19H524, 19H526, 19H524)
    Affected if Running 10.15.7 with a build version known to contain the unpatched vulnerability
  3. Verify TCC privacy protections are in use
    Check for the presence of TCC database at ~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db or system TCC at /Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db
    Affected if TCC databases exist (default on affected versions) - the flaw bypasses these protections
  4. Review application access logs for privacy-protected resources
    Check system logs (Console.app) or audit records for applications accessing camera, microphone, location, or contacts outside of expected approved access patterns
    Affected if Unrecognized or unsigned applications have accessed TCC-protected resources without user consent prompts

You are affected if running macOS 10.15.x through 10.15.7 or any macOS version prior to 11.4, where TCC privacy controls can be bypassed by a malicious application.

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 11.4 or later
Fixed in 11.4
Interim mitigation

Apply macOS Big Sur 11.4 or later security update to all affected macOS systems to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Big Sur 11.4 or later

  1. Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup solution before proceeding
  2. Connect your Mac to power and ensure you have a stable internet connection
  3. Open System Preferences (or System Settings on macOS 11+)
  4. Navigate to Software Update and check for available updates
  5. Install macOS Big Sur 11.4 or later by following the on-screen prompts
  6. After the update completes, verify the installed version by clicking Apple menu > About This Mac
Caveat Upgrading to macOS Big Sur may introduce UI changes and remove support for 32-bit applications; verify app compatibility before upgrading

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

Fix this in Mac Os X Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2021-30713 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