CVE-2022-42788
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 · uneditedA permissions issue existed. This issue was addressed with improved permission validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13. A malicious application may be able to read sensitive location information.
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 · high confidenceA permissions bypass vulnerability in macOS allowed a malicious application to read sensitive location information without proper user authorization. The issue stemmed from insufficient permission validation, which was addressed with improved access controls in macOS Ventura 13.
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< 13.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed macOS versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or view System Settings > About > System VersionAffected if The version returned is less than 13.0 (for example, 12.6.1, 12.5, 11.x, etc.)
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Verify location services are enabledGo to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, or run 'defaults read /var/db/locationd/Library/Preferences/com.apple.locationd.plist LocationServicesEnabled' in TerminalAffected if Location Services are enabled (value is 1)
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Confirm operating system is macOSRun 'uname -a' in Terminal and verify the output contains 'Darwin' and 'Mac' or check System Information > System Report > Software > System VersionAffected if The system is not Apple macOS (for example, it is Linux, Windows, or another Unix variant)
You are affected if the system runs any macOS version prior to 13.0 and has location services enabled, because the improper permission validation could allow unauthorized location information access.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped13.0
Deploy macOS Ventura 13 or later to affected systems to receive the corrected permission validation for location services.
macOS Ventura 13.0
- Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup method
- Ensure your Mac meets the system requirements for macOS Ventura
- Download macOS Ventura from the Mac App Store or via Software Update
- Install macOS Ventura by following the on-screen installation prompts
- After installation, verify the macOS version by going to Apple menu > About This Mac showing version 13.0 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-42788 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-42788 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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