macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2023-23539

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.2 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 Ventura 13.2. Mounting a maliciously crafted Samba network share may lead to arbitrary code execution.

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 confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability in macOS Ventura's Samba/network share mounting functionality allows arbitrary code execution when a user mounts a maliciously crafted Samba share. The vulnerability stems from improper memory handling during share mount operations.

MitigationUpdate macOS to version 13.2 or later to patch the vulnerability, and avoid mounting Samba shares from untrusted or unknown sources.

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, < 13.2

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 to get the installed macOS version
    Affected if The version is 13.0, 13.1, or any 13.x version below 13.2
  2. Verify Samba share mounting capability
    Run 'mount' or 'ls /mnt' to see if any network shares are currently mounted or accessible
    Affected if Samba/CIFS shares can be mounted and the macOS version is below 13.2
  3. Check for recent mount activity
    Run 'ls -la /Volumes' to list currently mounted volumes including network shares
    Affected if Any Samba network shares are mounted and the macOS version falls within the affected range (13.0 to 13.1)

If macOS Ventura is running version 13.0 or 13.1 and Samba/network shares can be mounted, the environment is potentially affected by this vulnerability.

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 13.2 or later
Fixed in 13.2
Interim mitigation

Update macOS to version 13.2 or later to patch the vulnerability, and avoid mounting Samba shares from untrusted or unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Ventura 13.2

  1. Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup solution before updating
  2. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS)
  3. Navigate to General > Software Update
  4. Click 'Check for Update' and wait for macOS Ventura 13.2 to appear
  5. Click 'Download and Install' to download and apply the update
  6. Follow any on-screen prompts and restart your Mac when installation is complete
  7. After restarting, verify the update by going to About This Mac (Apple menu > About This Mac) and confirming the version shows 13.2 or later
Caveat Standard macOS minor update within Ventura release; verify critical third-party software compatibility before production use

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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-23539 — 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-2023-23539 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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