macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2022-26750

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-05-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.4 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 buffer overflow issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Monterey 12.4. An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel 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 buffer overflow vulnerability in macOS Monterey's kernel component allows a local application to execute arbitrary code with kernel-level privileges due to improper memory handling. This represents a local privilege escalation vulnerability where an attacker could gain full system control.

MitigationUpgrade to macOS Monterey 12.4 or later to apply the memory handling fix that addresses this buffer overflow vulnerability.

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
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 12.0, < 12.4

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. Check installed macOS version
    Open Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if The version returned is 12.0, 12.1, 12.2, or 12.3 (any 12.0.x up to but not including 12.4)
  2. Confirm macOS Monterey release name
    Run: sw_vers -productVersion and verify the major version is 12
    Affected if Major version is 12 and minor version is less than 4
  3. Verify kernel version as secondary check
    Run: uname -r to see kernel release, which on Monterey follows pattern 21.x.x
    Affected if Kernel version indicates Monterey (21.x.x) and OS version is below 12.4

If the system is running any macOS Monterey version from 12.0 through 12.3.x, it is affected by this kernel buffer overflow vulnerability.

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 12.4 or later
Fixed in 12.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to macOS Monterey 12.4 or later to apply the memory handling fix that addresses this buffer overflow vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Monterey 12.4 or later (recommended: latest stable macOS release such as 12.6, 13.x, or 14.x)

  1. Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup solution before updating
  2. Open System Preferences (or System Settings on macOS Ventura and later)
  3. Click on Software Update
  4. Allow macOS to check for updates
  5. If macOS Monterey 12.4 or later is available, click Update Now to download and install the update
  6. Alternatively, download macOS Monterey 12.4 or later directly from the Mac App Store
  7. Restart your Mac when prompted to complete the installation
  8. After updating, verify the installation by going to Apple menu > About This Mac and confirming the macOS version is 12.4 or later
Caveat Standard point-release update with minimal risk; verify critical third-party applications are compatible

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $6,920
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,072.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-26750 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-26750 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