macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2022-42816

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-01-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.0 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 logic issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13. An app may be able to modify protected parts of the file system.

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

CVE-2022-42816 is a logic flaw in macOS where improper state management allows a malicious or compromised application to bypass file system protections and modify typically restricted directories. This represents a privilege escalation issue where an app can access protected parts of the file system beyond its intended sandbox constraints.

MitigationUpdate macOS systems to Ventura 13 or later to obtain Apple's patched version that addresses the state management logic flaw.

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:< 13.0

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check the installed macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or select Apple menu > About This Mac
    Affected if The version displayed is less than 13.0 (any build of macOS Monterey 12.x or earlier)
  2. Verify system integrity protection status
    Run 'csrutil status' in Terminal to check if SIP is enabled
    Affected if SIP is disabled (the vulnerability requires system state management to be active)
  3. Identify applications with full disk access
    Check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access for unexpected or untrusted applications
    Affected if A malicious or compromised app with Full Disk Access is present on the system
  4. Review sandbox restrictions
    Run 'spctl --master-status' to check system policy security status
    Affected if The system allows apps with overridden sandbox policies to execute

The environment is affected if the macOS version is below 13.0 AND a malicious or compromised application can run with elevated permissions that interact with protected file system state.

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 13.0 or later
Fixed in 13.0
Interim mitigation

Update macOS systems to Ventura 13 or later to obtain Apple's patched version that addresses the state management logic flaw.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Ventura 13.0 or later

  1. Back up important data before performing any system update
  2. Upgrade to macOS Ventura 13.0 or later by checking for software updates in System Preferences > Software Update
  3. Verify the update was successful by checking the macOS version in About This Mac
Caveat Review application compatibility with macOS Ventura before upgrading, as some legacy apps may not be supported

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-42816 — 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-2022-42816 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