CVE-2024-40831
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 permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15. An app may be able to access a user's Photos Library.
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 · low confidenceAn authorization bypass vulnerability in macOS allowed applications to improperly access a user's Photos Library without proper permissions. This was addressed with additional restrictions in macOS Sequoia 15.
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< 15.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed macOS versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or check System Settings > AboutAffected if Version is below 15.0 (e.g., 14.x, 13.x, etc.)
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Confirm Photos Library existsCheck if ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary or /Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary existsAffected if Photos Library is present on the system and macOS version is below 15.0
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Verify Photos app access controlsOpen System Settings > Privacy & Security > Photos and review which applications have accessAffected if Any third-party applications have Photos access granted AND macOS version is below 15.0
A system is affected if it runs macOS version lower than 15.0 (Sequoia) regardless of Photos Library configuration, since the vulnerability exists in the OS authorization mechanism itself.
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.
dbcve · scoped15.0
Update macOS to version 15 (Sequoia) or later to apply the fix that enforces proper Photos Library access controls.
macOS Sequoia 15.0
- Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup solution before upgrading
- Ensure your Mac meets the minimum system requirements for macOS Sequoia 15
- Connect your Mac to a reliable power source
- Upgrade to macOS Sequoia 15.0 by checking for software updates in System Settings > General > Software Update, or download macOS Sequoia from the Mac App Store and install
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-40831 — 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-2024-40831 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data