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IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2021-30995

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.3 / 10.15.7 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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 state handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.6.2, tvOS 15.2, macOS Monterey 12.1, Security Update 2021-008 Catalina, iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2, watchOS 8.3. A malicious application may be able to elevate 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 race condition in Apple operating systems allows a malicious application to elevate privileges to higher permission levels. The vulnerability involved improper state handling during a specific operation, where timing windows could be exploited to bypass security controls.

MitigationApply the appropriate Apple security updates (iOS 15.2+, iPadOS 15.2+, macOS 11.6.2+/12.1+, watchOS 8.3+, tvOS 15.2+) to all affected devices. In enterprise environments, inventory all devices running older versions and deploy patches via MDM or manual update mechanisms.

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:< 15.2
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 15.2
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
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 15.2
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 8.3

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/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. Check iOS version on iPhone
    On the device, go to Settings > General > About > Version. Alternatively, via MDM or Apple Configurator, query the OSVersion field or run: idevicesysinfo -k ProductVersion
    Affected if Version is less than 15.2 (e.g., 15.1, 15.0.x, 14.x)
  2. Check iPadOS version on iPad
    On the device, go to Settings > General > About > Version. Alternatively, via MDM, query the OSVersion field
    Affected if Version is less than 15.2 (e.g., 15.1, 15.0.x, 14.x)
  3. Check macOS version
    Open Apple menu > About This Mac, or run: sw_vers -productVersion. For remote checking via MDM or scripts, use: system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType | grep 'System Version'
    Affected if Version is 10.15.7 or between 10.15 and 10.15.7 inclusive; or 11.0 to 11.6.1; or 12.0 to 12.0 (any version below 12.1)
  4. Check watchOS version on Apple Watch
    On Apple Watch, go to Settings > General > About > watchOS Version. Paired iPhone: Watch app > My Watch > General > About > Version
    Affected if Version is less than 8.3 (e.g., 8.2, 8.1, 8.0, 7.x)
  5. Check tvOS version on Apple TV
    On Apple TV, go to Settings > General > About > tvOS Version. For remote checks, query via MDM or run: ios_await_version check on the device
    Affected if Version is less than 15.2 (e.g., 15.1, 15.0.x, 14.x)

The device is affected if its installed OS version falls within any of the vulnerable version ranges listed for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, or tvOS.

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 8.3 / 10.15.7 / 11.6.2 or later
Fixed in 8.310.15.711.6.2
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate Apple security updates (iOS 15.2+, iPadOS 15.2+, macOS 11.6.2+/12.1+, watchOS 8.3+, tvOS 15.2+) to all affected devices. In enterprise environments, inventory all devices running older versions and deploy patches via MDM or manual update mechanisms.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 15.2 / iPadOS 15.2 / macOS Big Sur 11.6.2 / macOS Monterey 12.1 / Security Update 2021-008 (macOS 10.15.7) / tvOS 15.2 / watchOS 8.3

  1. Identify the current version of your Apple device's operating system
  2. For iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 15.2 or iPadOS 15.2
  3. For Mac: Go to System Preferences > Software Update and install the appropriate update: macOS Big Sur 11.6.2, macOS Monterey 12.1, or Security Update 2021-008 for Catalina
  4. For Apple TV: Go to Settings > System > Software Updates and install tvOS 15.2
  5. For Apple Watch: Go to Settings > General > Software Update on the paired iPhone and install watchOS 8.3
  6. After updating, verify the new version is installed
Caveat Standard OS update; backup recommended before updating

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

Fix this in Ipados Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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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-2021-30995 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