dbcve.org
macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2023-32401

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-01-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.7.7 / 12.6.6 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 was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in macOS Monterey 12.6.6, macOS Big Sur 11.7.7, macOS Ventura 13.4. Parsing an office document may lead to an 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 buffer overflow vulnerability in macOS document parsing components allows remote attackers to trigger excessive memory operations when processing specially crafted office documents. The vulnerability stems from insufficient bounds checking during document parsing, enabling either denial of service through application crashes or potentially arbitrary code execution with user-level privileges.

MitigationApply the appropriate macOS security update (Monterey 12.6.6, Big Sur 11.7.7, or Ventura 13.4) to all affected systems. Consider restricting office document handling to sandboxed applications until patches are applied.

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:< 11.7.7>= 12.0.0, < 12.6.6>= 13.0, < 13.4

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. Identify the installed macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or go to Apple menu > About This Mac > Version
    Affected if The version is 11.x below 11.7.7, 12.x below 12.6.6, or 13.x below 13.4
  2. Confirm the macOS build number
    Run 'sw_vers -buildVersion' in Terminal to get the full build identifier
    Affected if The build number corresponds to an unpatched release for your macOS version
  3. Verify installed security updates
    Check System Settings > General > Software Update for recent security patches, or run 'system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType' in Terminal
    Affected if No security updates have been installed since the patch dates (around June 2023)
  4. Identify office document handling applications
    Check /Applications for Microsoft Office, Apple iWork, LibreOffice, or other document processing apps
    Affected if Office productivity applications are installed and used on the system

The system is affected if it runs macOS Big Sur below 11.7.7, Monterey below 12.6.6, or Ventura below 13.4, and processes office documents with unpatched document parsing components.

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 11.7.7 / 12.6.6 / 13.4 or later
Fixed in 11.7.712.6.613.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate macOS security update (Monterey 12.6.6, Big Sur 11.7.7, or Ventura 13.4) to all affected systems. Consider restricting office document handling to sandboxed applications until patches are applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Big Sur 11.7.7 / macOS Monterey 12.6.6 / macOS Ventura 13.4 (depending on your current major version)

  1. If running macOS Big Sur (11.x), upgrade to macOS Big Sur 11.7.7 or later via System Preferences > Software Update
  2. If running macOS Monterey (12.x), upgrade to macOS Monterey 12.6.6 or later via System Preferences > Software Update
  3. If running macOS Ventura (13.0-13.3.x), upgrade to macOS Ventura 13.4 or later via System Preferences > Software Update
  4. After upgrading, verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release for your major version line
Caveat Standard macOS upgrade considerations apply; major version jumps may introduce compatibility changes with older applications

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-32401 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