dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2022-26756

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-05-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.15.7 / 11.6.6 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
An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved input validation. This issue is fixed in Security Update 2022-004 Catalina, macOS Monterey 12.4, macOS Big Sur 11.6.6. 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

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability in macOS kernel allows a local application to escalate privileges to kernel level. The issue was addressed with improved input validation in the affected macOS versions.

MitigationApply the appropriate macOS security update: Security Update 2022-004 for Catalina, macOS 12.4 for Monterey, or macOS 11.6.6 for Big Sur.

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, < 11.6.6>= 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. Determine installed macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal to get the exact version number (e.g., 12.3, 11.6.5, 10.15.7)
    Affected if Version is 10.15.7 or any version before 10.15.7, OR between 11.0 and 11.6.5 inclusive, OR between 12.0 and 12.3 inclusive
  2. Confirm kernel-level access is possible
    This vulnerability allows a local application to write to kernel memory. Verify if untrusted local applications can be executed on the system.
    Affected if Untrusted local applications can be run and the macOS version falls within the affected ranges above

A system is affected if it runs macOS 10.15.7 or earlier, macOS 11.0-11.6.5, or macOS 12.0-12.3 and allows execution of local applications.

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 / 11.6.6 / 12.4 or later
Fixed in 10.15.711.6.612.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate macOS security update: Security Update 2022-004 for Catalina, macOS 12.4 for Monterey, or macOS 11.6.6 for Big Sur.

Recommended fix High confidence

Security Update 2022-004 Catalina / macOS Big Sur 11.6.6 / macOS Monterey 12.4

  1. Open System Preferences (or System Settings on macOS Ventura and later)
  2. Click on 'Software Update' to check for available updates
  3. Install Security Update 2022-004 Catalina (for macOS 10.15.7)
  4. Install macOS Big Sur 11.6.6 (for macOS 11.x)
  5. Install macOS Monterey 12.4 (for macOS 12.x)
  6. Restart the system after applying the update
  7. Verify the update was installed by checking System Preferences > About > Version
Caveat Security updates are cumulative and typically non-breaking; however, backing up important data before applying system updates is recommended practice

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

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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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-2022-26756 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