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Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2021-30982

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.15.7 / 11.6.2 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 race condition was addressed with improved locking. This issue is fixed in macOS Monterey 12.1, Security Update 2021-008 Catalina, macOS Big Sur 11.6.2. A remote attacker may be able to cause unexpected application termination or heap corruption.

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 race condition vulnerability in macOS that allows a remote attacker to cause heap corruption or unexpected application termination. The vulnerability was addressed with improved locking mechanisms in the affected macOS versions.

MitigationApply the appropriate macOS security update: macOS Monterey 12.1, Security Update 2021-008 for Catalina, or macOS Big Sur 11.6.2 depending on the installed OS version.

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:>= 11.0, < 11.6.2>= 12.0, < 12.1

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Check installed macOS version
    Open Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if Version is 10.15.x (any), 11.0-11.6.1, or 12.0 (i.e., falls within < 10.15.7, 11.0 to < 11.6.2, or 12.0 to < 12.1)
  2. Verify full version number on Catalina
    If running 10.15.x, run: sw_vers -productVersionExtra to confirm if it is exactly 10.15.7
    Affected if Version is exactly 10.15.7 or any 10.15.x below 10.15.7
  3. Confirm Big Sur build number
    If running 11.x, run: uname -r or system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType to get the full build version
    Affected if Build is earlier than 11.6.2 (21G217 or lower)
  4. Confirm Monterey build number
    If running 12.x, run: uname -r to verify build version
    Affected if Build is earlier than 12.1 (21C52 or lower)
  5. Check for installed security updates
    Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy or run: system_profiler SPInstallHistoryData | grep -i '2021-008\|Security Update' to see if patch was applied
    Affected if No security update from December 2021 or later is installed on vulnerable version

System is affected if running macOS 10.15.x, 11.0-11.6.1, or 12.0 without the December 2021 security updates applied.

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 10.15.7 / 11.6.2 / 12.1 or later
Fixed in 10.15.711.6.212.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate macOS security update: macOS Monterey 12.1, Security Update 2021-008 for Catalina, or macOS Big Sur 11.6.2 depending on the installed OS version.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Monterey 12.1, macOS Big Sur 11.6.2, or Security Update 2021-008 for Catalina

  1. Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup solution before proceeding with any system update
  2. Identify your current macOS version by clicking the Apple menu and selecting About This Mac
  3. For macOS Monterey (12.0) users: Open System Preferences > Software Update and install macOS 12.1 or later
  4. For macOS Big Sur (11.0-11.6.1) users: Open System Preferences > Software Update and install macOS 11.6.2 or later
  5. For macOS Catalina (10.15.7) users: Open System Preferences > Software Update and install Security Update 2021-008, or upgrade to a later macOS version
  6. After updating, verify the fix by checking that About This Mac shows the corrected version number
Caveat Standard macOS update risks apply - ensure backups exist; some legacy applications may be incompatible with newer macOS versions

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

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2021-30982 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