dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2022-22597

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.15.7 / 11.6.5 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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 memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.6.5, macOS Monterey 12.3, Security Update 2022-003 Catalina. Processing a maliciously crafted file may lead to arbitrary code execution.

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 memory corruption vulnerability in macOS allows arbitrary code execution when processing a maliciously crafted file. The issue was addressed through improved validation checks. This affects macOS Big Sur, Monterey, and Catalina variants.

MitigationApply the available security updates: macOS Big Sur 11.6.5, macOS Monterey 12.3, or Security Update 2022-003 for Catalina. Ensure endpoint protection and restrict file handling from untrusted sources.

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:< 10.15.7= 10.15.7
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 11.0, < 11.6.5>= 12.0, < 12.3

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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. Determine your macOS version
    Open Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if The version displayed is 10.15.7 or earlier, between 11.0 and 11.6.5, or between 12.0 and 12.3
  2. Confirm the major OS release name
    Run: sw_vers -productVersion and note the first number (10 for Catalina, 11 for Big Sur, 12 for Monterey)
    Affected if You are running Catalina (10.x), Big Sur (11.x), or Monterey (12.x) and the full version falls in the affected ranges from step 1
  3. Check if security updates have been applied
    Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General to view installed updates, or run: defaults read /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist LastRecommendedMajorOSBundleIdentifier
    Affected if No recent security updates are installed for your macOS version, indicating the patch may not be applied

You are affected if your installed macOS version is exactly 10.15.7, or falls between 11.0 and 11.6.5, or between 12.0 and 12.3.

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 / 11.6.5 / 12.3 or later
Fixed in 10.15.711.6.512.3
Interim mitigation

Apply the available security updates: macOS Big Sur 11.6.5, macOS Monterey 12.3, or Security Update 2022-003 for Catalina. Ensure endpoint protection and restrict file handling from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Catalina: Security Update 2022-003; macOS Big Sur: 11.6.5; macOS Monterey: 12.3 (or upgrade to later supported macOS versions)

  1. 1. Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup solution before updating.
  2. 2. Open System Preferences (or System Settings on macOS Ventura and later).
  3. 3. Click on Software Update.
  4. 4. Allow macOS to check for available updates.
  5. 5. If macOS Security Update 2022-003 (for Catalina), macOS 11.6.5 (for Big Sur), or macOS 12.3 (for Monterey) is available, click Download and Install.
  6. 6. Follow the on-screen prompts and restart your Mac when prompted.
  7. 7. After updating, verify the update was successful by checking System Preferences > Software Update again - there should be no pending updates.
Caveat Users on very old hardware may not be able to upgrade to newer macOS versions; some legacy applications may be incompatible with newer macOS releases

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

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

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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-2022-22597 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