dbcve.org
macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2023-40401

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.6.1 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
The issue was addressed with additional permissions checks. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.6.1. An attacker may be able to access passkeys without authentication.

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 vulnerability in macOS Ventura allowed attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms and access stored passkeys (WebAuthn credentials) without proper authorization. The issue stemmed from insufficient permissions verification when attempting to retrieve passkey credentials. Apple addressed this with additional permissions checks in the 13.6.1 security update.

MitigationApply macOS Ventura 13.6.1 or later security update to receive the permissions check fixes for this passkey authentication bypass.

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, < 13.6.1

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or view System Settings > About
    Affected if Version is 13.0 through 13.6.0 (any 13.x version below 13.6.1)

The system is affected if it is running any macOS Ventura version from 13.0 up to but not including 13.6.1, as the vulnerable passkey permissions verification code exists in those releases.

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 13.6.1 or later
Fixed in 13.6.1
Interim mitigation

Apply macOS Ventura 13.6.1 or later security update to receive the permissions check fixes for this passkey authentication bypass.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Ventura 13.6.1

  1. Check current macOS version by clicking Apple menu > About This Mac
  2. Back up important data using Time Machine or another backup method before upgrading
  3. Open System Settings > Software Update
  4. If macOS Ventura 13.6.1 is available, click Update Now to install the security patch
  5. Restart the Mac if prompted after the update completes
  6. Verify the update was successful by checking About This Mac shows version 13.6.1
Caveat Point release updates typically have minimal risk; standard practice is to ensure a current backup before any system update

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
2.0 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

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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-2023-40401 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