CVE-2021-30778
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 · uneditedThis issue was addressed with improved entitlements. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.5. A malicious application may be able to bypass Privacy preferences.
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 confidenceThis macOS vulnerability allows a malicious application to bypass Privacy preferences through improper entitlements handling. The issue resides in how the operating system validates entitlement claims related to the Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) privacy protections, potentially enabling unauthorized access to protected resources like camera, microphone, contacts, or other sensitive data without user consent.
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>= 11.0, < 11.5CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed macOS versionOpen Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersionAffected if The version returned is 11.0, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, or 11.4 (any version >= 11.0 and < 11.5)
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Confirm macOS release nameRun: sw_vers -productVersion and verify the major version corresponds to macOS Big SurAffected if The system is running macOS Big Sur 11.x where x is 0-4
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Review application entitlementsInspect .app/Contents/Info.plist or embedded.provisionprofile files for any apps requesting TCC-related entitlements (com.apple.security.personal-information.camera, com.apple.security.personal-information.microphone, com.apple.security.personal-information.addressbook, etc.)Affected if Applications have entitlement claims to TCC-protected resources without corresponding user consent records in TCC database
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Check TCC database for anomaliesQuery the TCC database at /Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db using sqlite3 (requires Full Disk Access): SELECT * FROM access;Affected if There are unexpected or missing consent records for applications accessing protected resources
A system is affected if it runs any macOS version from 11.0 through 11.4, as the improper entitlement validation in those versions could allow unauthorized TCC access.
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.
dbcve · scoped11.5
Update to macOS Big Sur 11.5 or later, which contains the corrected entitlement validation logic. Organizations should also review application entitlements and monitor for suspicious apps attempting to access protected privacy resources.
macOS Big Sur 11.5
- Back up your Mac using Time Machine before performing any system upgrade
- Open System Preferences (or System Settings on newer macOS versions)
- Check for updates by going to Software Update
- Install macOS Big Sur 11.5 or later when available
- Restart your Mac when prompted to complete the installation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-30778 — 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-2021-30778 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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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.
- 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