CVE-2024-12786
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 · uneditedA vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in X1a0He Adobe Downloader up to 1.3.1 on macOS. Affected is the function shouldAcceptNewConnection of the file com.x1a0he.macOS.Adobe-Downloader.helper of the component XPC Service. The manipulation leads to improper privilege management. An attack has to be approached locally. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. This product is not affiliated with the company Adobe.
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 confidenceA local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the XPC service helper (com.x1a0he.macOS.Adobe-Downloader.helper) of the Adobe Downloader application for macOS. The shouldAcceptNewConnection function implements improper privilege management, allowing a local attacker to potentially bypass authorization checks and interact with the privileged XPC service.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Adobe Downloader application is installedSearch for the application in common macOS locations: /Applications/, ~/Applications/, or use Spotlight (Cmd+Space) to search for 'Adobe Downloader'. Also check /Library/Application Support/ for associated files.Affected if The application is present on the system
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Identify the XPC helper service bundleLook for the XPC service bundle com.x1a0he.macOS.Adobe-Downloader.helper within the Adobe Downloader application bundle. This is typically located at [AdobeDownloader].app/Contents/Library/LaunchServices/ or within the app's Contents/XPCServices/ directory.Affected if The XPC helper service bundle com.x1a0he.macOS.Adobe-Downloader.helper exists within the application
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Verify the XPC service is registeredRun 'sudo launchctl list | grep -i adobe' or check /Library/LaunchDaemons/ and ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ for plist files related to com.x1a0he.macOS.Adobe-Downloader.helper to see if the service is loaded.Affected if The XPC helper service is loaded and running on the system
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Check application version against affected rangesRight-click the Adobe Downloader.app, select 'Get Info', and note the version number. Compare against any published affected version ranges for CVE-2024-12786.Affected if The installed version falls within the affected version range (if known) or the application is present with the vulnerable XPC service
If the Adobe Downloader application is installed and the vulnerable XPC helper service (com.x1a0he.macOS.Adobe-Downloader.helper) exists and is running, the system is affected by this privilege escalation vulnerability.
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 dataUninstall the Adobe Downloader application if present, as it is unmaintained and not affiliated with Adobe. If the application is required, restrict local user access and monitor for exploitation attempts. Contact the vendor for patched versions.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-12786 — 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-2024-12786 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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