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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 15 Sep 2022.
IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2021-31010

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.6.2 / 10.15.7 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild 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 deserialization issue was addressed through improved validation. This issue is fixed in Security Update 2021-005 Catalina, iOS 12.5.5, iOS 14.8 and iPadOS 14.8, macOS Big Sur 11.6, watchOS 7.6.2. A sandboxed process may be able to circumvent sandbox restrictions. Apple was aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited at the time of release..

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 deserialization vulnerability in multiple Apple operating systems (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS) allowed a sandboxed process to circumvent sandbox restrictions through improper validation during deserialization. This could enable a malicious application to escape its sandbox and potentially execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

MitigationApply the available security updates: iOS 12.5.5, iOS 14.8/iPadOS 14.8, macOS Big Sur 11.6, Security Update 2021-005 Catalina, or watchOS 7.6.2 depending on the affected device. Prioritize patching given confirmed active exploitation in the wild.

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:< 14.8
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:>= 12.0, < 12.5.5>= 14.0, < 14.8
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:>= 10.15, < 10.15.7= 10.15.7
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 11.0, < 11.6
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 7.6.2

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check iOS version on iPhone
    Go to Settings > General > About > Version, or run 'sw_vers' via Terminal on a Mac with the device connected
    Affected if Version is 12.x below 12.5.5, or 14.x below 14.8
  2. Check iPadOS version on iPad
    Go to Settings > General > About > Version, or run 'sw_vers' via Terminal on a Mac with the device connected
    Affected if Version is below 14.8
  3. Check macOS version on Mac
    Go to Apple menu > About This Mac > Overview, or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal
    Affected if Version is 10.15.x below 10.15.7, or 11.x below 11.6
  4. Check watchOS version on Apple Watch
    Open the Watch app on iPhone > General > About, or go to Settings > General > About on the watch
    Affected if Version is below 7.6.2
  5. Identify if any third-party apps with deserialization are in use
    Review installed applications that handle serialized data (object archives, property lists from untrusted sources) - these would trigger the vulnerable code path
    Affected if Applications that deserialize data from external or untrusted sources are running on an affected OS version

Your device is affected if it runs any iOS 12.0-12.5.4, iOS/iPadOS 14.0-14.7, macOS 10.15-10.15.6, macOS 11.0-11.5, or watchOS below 7.6.2, particularly when using apps that perform deserialization operations.

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 7.6.2 / 10.15.7 / 11.6 or later
Fixed in 7.6.210.15.711.6
Interim mitigation

Apply the available security updates: iOS 12.5.5, iOS 14.8/iPadOS 14.8, macOS Big Sur 11.6, Security Update 2021-005 Catalina, or watchOS 7.6.2 depending on the affected device. Prioritize patching given confirmed active exploitation in the wild.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 14.8/iPadOS 14.8 (or iOS 12.5.5 for older devices), macOS Big Sur 11.6 (or Security Update 2021-005 for Catalina), watchOS 7.6.2

  1. Identify the affected Apple device (iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch)
  2. Check the current operating system version on the device
  3. For iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to iOS 14.8/iPadOS 14.8, or if currently on iOS 12.x, upgrade to iOS 12.5.5
  4. For Mac: Go to System Preferences > Software Update and upgrade to macOS Big Sur 11.6, or for Catalina users apply Security Update 2021-005
  5. For Apple Watch: On the paired iPhone, open the Watch app and go to General > Software Update to upgrade to watchOS 7.6.2
  6. After updating, verify the device is running the fixed version
Caveat Standard OS update risks apply - ensure backups exist before updating; some legacy applications may not function on newer OS versions

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

Fix this in Ipados Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-31010 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