macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2023-27934

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.3 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
A memory initialization issue was addressed. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.3, macOS Monterey 12.6.4. A remote attacker may be able to cause unexpected app termination or 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 · moderate confidence

A memory initialization vulnerability in macOS that allows a remote attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code or cause unexpected application termination. The issue stems from improper memory handling that can be exploited remotely.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied macOS security updates (Ventura 13.3 or Monterey 12.6.4) to affected systems to remediate the vulnerability.

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:< 13.3

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
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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. Identify installed macOS version
    Click Apple menu > About This Mac to view the macOS version number
    Affected if The displayed version is earlier than 13.3 (for example, 13.2.x, 13.1, 12.x, or earlier)
  2. Confirm macOS build date
    Open Terminal and run: sw_vers -buildVersion
    Affected if The build corresponds to a version predating the 13.3 security update release
  3. Check for pending system updates
    Open System Settings > General > Software Update; note any available updates
    Affected if A security update to macOS 13.3 or later is available and not yet installed
  4. Review security patch status
    Open Terminal and run: defaults read /System/Library/CoreServices/Settings/systemVersion.plist 2>/dev/null || system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType
    Affected if The installed security patch level is below the March 2023 security content for CVE-2023-27934

The system is affected if the installed macOS version is earlier than 13.3 and the vendor security patches for this CVE have not been applied.

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 13.3 or later
Fixed in 13.3
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied macOS security updates (Ventura 13.3 or Monterey 12.6.4) to affected systems to remediate the vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Ventura 13.3 or macOS Monterey 12.6.4 (depending on current major version)

  1. Determine the current macOS version by clicking the Apple menu and selecting About This Mac
  2. If running macOS Ventura (13.x), upgrade to macOS Ventura 13.3 or later
  3. If running macOS Monterey (12.x), upgrade to macOS Monterey 12.6.4 or later
  4. To upgrade, go to System Settings > General > Software Update and install the available update
  5. Restart the system after the update completes
Caveat Standard macOS upgrade considerations apply - review app compatibility and backup important data before upgrading

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,160
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,456.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-27934 — 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-2023-27934 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