CVE-2023-41138
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 · uneditedThe AppsAnywhere macOS client-privileged helper can be tricked into executing arbitrary commands with elevated permissions by a local user process.
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 confidenceThe AppsAnywhere macOS client-privileged helper tool can be manipulated by a local user process to execute arbitrary commands with elevated (root) permissions, enabling local privilege escalation.
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= 1.4.0= 1.4.1= 1.5.1= 1.5.2= 1.6.0= 2.0.0CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate AppsAnywhere Client installationSearch for AppsAnywhere in /Applications folder via Finder or run: ls /Applications | grep -i appsanywhereAffected if The application is not found in /Applications, the system is not affected by this CVE
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Determine installed versionRun: defaults read /Applications/AppsAnywhere\ Client.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString or right-click the app in Finder, select Get Info, and note the Version fieldAffected if Version matches any of these: 1.4.0, 1.4.1, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.6.0, or 2.0.0 - the system is affected
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Verify privileged helper tool presenceCheck for helper tool at /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/AppsAnywhere or examine LaunchDaemons: ls /Library/LaunchDaemons/ | grep -i appsanywhereAffected if The privileged helper is installed alongside a vulnerable client version, confirming exposure to the privilege escalation flaw
A system is affected if AppsAnywhere Client version 1.4.0, 1.4.1, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.6.0, or 2.0.0 is installed with its privileged helper tool present, allowing a local user to potentially execute arbitrary commands with root privileges.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataApply vendor-provided patches when available. Until then, limit local user access to systems running AppsAnywhere, monitor for suspicious processes interacting with the helper, and consider application whitelisting controls.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,616.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-41138 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-41138 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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