dbcve.org
macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2022-26754

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 the macOS kernel allows an application to execute arbitrary code with kernel-level privileges. This represents a privilege escalation from user-space to ring 0, giving an attacker complete control over the system.

MitigationApply macOS Monterey 12.4 or later to address the kernel 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 macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or click Apple menu > About This Mac to view the macOS version number
    Affected if The installed version is 12.0, 12.1, 12.2, or 12.3 (versions 12.0 <= version < 12.4)
  2. Confirm kernel version
    Run 'uname -r' to display the kernel version, which correlates with the macOS major version
    Affected if The kernel version indicates macOS 12.0 through 12.3
  3. Review system information
    Run 'system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType' to get detailed system software information including the exact macOS build version
    Affected if The build version falls within the affected range for macOS 12.0 to 12.3

The system is affected if it is running any version of macOS Monterey from 12.0 through 12.3; macOS 12.4 and later are not vulnerable.

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

Apply macOS Monterey 12.4 or later to address the kernel buffer overflow vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Monterey 12.4 or later

  1. Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup solution before performing the update
  2. Go to System Preferences (or System Settings on macOS Ventura and later)
  3. Click on Software Update
  4. Allow the system to check for updates
  5. If macOS Monterey 12.4 or later is available, click Download and Install
  6. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
  7. Restart your Mac when prompted to complete the update

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2022-26754 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