macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2022-42818

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-11-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.6 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
This issue was addressed with improved data protection. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13. A user in a privileged network position may be able to track user activity.

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 data protection vulnerability in macOS allowed a network attacker with privileged position (likely man-in-the-middle) to track user activity. This was addressed through improved data protection mechanisms in macOS Ventura 13.

MitigationUpgrade to macOS Ventura 13 or later. Use VPN on untrusted networks to add an extra layer of protection against network-based activity tracking.

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:< 12.6

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
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/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 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 less than 12.6 (for example, 12.5.x, 12.4.x, or earlier)
  2. Confirm exact version number
    Compare your reported version against the affected range: versions prior to 12.6 are vulnerable
    Affected if Your version starts with 12.0, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, or 12.5
  3. Verify patch status
    Check if macOS 12.6 or later security updates have been applied via System Settings > General > Software Update
    Affected if No update to 12.6 or later has been installed

You are affected if your macOS version is below 12.6, as the improved data protection mechanisms that block network-based activity tracking were only added in that release.

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 12.6 or later
Fixed in 12.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to macOS Ventura 13 or later. Use VPN on untrusted networks to add an extra layer of protection against network-based activity tracking.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Ventura 13 or later

  1. Check current macOS version by clicking the Apple menu and selecting About This Mac
  2. Back up important data using Time Machine or another backup method
  3. Open the App Store and search for macOS Ventura, or visit apple.com/macos
  4. Download and install macOS Ventura 13 or later
  5. Restart the computer when prompted to complete the installation
  6. Verify the new version by checking About This Mac shows 13.x or later
Caveat Major OS upgrades may have application compatibility issues; review app vendor compatibility lists before upgrading

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-42818 — 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-2022-42818 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