CVE-2021-30964
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 · uneditedAn inherited permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Monterey 12.1, watchOS 8.3, iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2. 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 is an OS-level vulnerability in Apple's platform operating systems where an inherited permissions mechanism allowed a malicious application to bypass Privacy preferences. The issue was in how permissions were being passed or inherited, allowing unauthorized access to protected resources without proper 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< 15.2< 15.2< 12.1< 8.3CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check macOS versionOpen Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal, or run 'system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType'Affected if Version is below 12.1 (Monterey) - for example 12.0.x or earlier
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Check iOS versionGo to Settings > General > About, or connect to computer and check in Finder/iTunes, or use idevicesyslog toolAffected if Version is below 15.2 - for example 15.0.x or 15.1.x
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Check iPadOS versionGo to Settings > General > About, or connect to computer and check in Finder/iTunesAffected if Version is below 15.2 - for example 15.0.x or 15.1.x
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Check watchOS versionOpen Watch app on paired iPhone, go to General > About, or check on Apple Watch in Settings > General > AboutAffected if Version is below 8.3 - for example 8.0.x, 8.1.x, or 8.2.x
You are affected if any Apple device runs an OS version lower than 12.1 for macOS, 15.2 for iOS/iPadOS, or 8.3 for watchOS.
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 · scoped8.312.115.2
Apply the vendor-supplied patches: macOS Monterey 12.1, watchOS 8.3, iOS 15.2, and iPadOS 15.2 or later. This is a system-level vulnerability that requires OS patching rather than application-level remediation.
iOS 15.2 / iPadOS 15.2 / macOS Monterey 12.1 / watchOS 8.3
- For iPhone and iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to iOS 15.2 or iPadOS 15.2
- For Mac: Go to System Preferences > Software Update and upgrade to macOS Monterey 12.1
- For Apple Watch: Open the Watch app on iPhone, go to My Watch > General > Software Update and upgrade to watchOS 8.3
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-30964 — 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-2021-30964 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