dbcve.org
macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2023-42881

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-01-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.2 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
The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Sonoma 14.2. Processing a file may lead to 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 handling vulnerability in macOS Sonoma allows processing of specially crafted files to trigger either unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution due to memory corruption.

MitigationApply macOS Sonoma 14.2 or later security update to address the memory handling flaw.

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:< 14.2

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. Identify the installed macOS version
    Click the Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal
    Affected if The version shown is earlier than 14.2 (such as 14.0, 14.1, or any 13.x release)
  2. Confirm the macOS release name
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' or check About This Mac to see if it says Sonoma
    Affected if The system is running macOS Sonoma but the build is earlier than the 14.2 update
  3. Check the Security Update history
    Open System Settings > General > Software Update > History, or check /Library/Updates for recent update receipts
    Affected if No security update dated October 2023 or later (the 14.2 patch release) is installed

The system is affected if it runs any version of macOS Sonoma earlier than 14.2, since the memory corruption flaw exists in those earlier 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 14.2 or later
Fixed in 14.2
Interim mitigation

Apply macOS Sonoma 14.2 or later security update to address the memory handling flaw.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Sonoma 14.2

  1. Check the current macOS version by going to Apple menu > About This Mac
  2. Back up all important data using Time Machine or another backup solution
  3. Open System Settings > General > Software Update
  4. Install macOS Sonoma 14.2 or the latest available security update
  5. Restart the Mac when prompted and verify the update was successful by checking About This Mac again
Caveat Standard macOS upgrade considerations apply - ensure compatibility with critical applications and back up data before updating

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
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,808.

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-2023-42881 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