CVE-2024-40848
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 downgrade issue was addressed with additional code-signing restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15, macOS Sonoma 14.7, macOS Ventura 13.7. An attacker may be able to read sensitive information.
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 confidenceThis is a code-signing downgrade vulnerability in macOS where an attacker could potentially bypass code-signing restrictions to read sensitive information. The issue was addressed by adding additional code-signing restrictions to prevent the downgrade attack vector.
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< 13.7>= 14.0, < 14.7CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed macOS versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or go to Apple menu > About This MacAffected if The version is below 13.7, or is 14.0 through 14.6 (any version >= 14.0 but < 14.7)
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Verify code-signing status on the systemRun '/usr/bin/codesign -dv /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Versions/C/CoreFoundation 2>&1' to check if code-signing is functioningAffected if Code-signing verification fails or returns unexpected results, indicating the downgrade vulnerability may be exploitable
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Check for recent code-signing policy changesInspect /Library/Preferences/com.apple.cs.tail fallback by running 'ls -la /Library/Preferences/com.apple.cs*' to see if code-signing enforcement policies are presentAffected if The system lacks recent code-signing policy files that would block downgrade attacks (files should be present in patched versions)
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Confirm system security configurationRun 'spctl --status' to check if System Integrity Protection and Gatekeeper are enabledAffected if Gatekeeper or SIP is disabled, which would make the code-signing downgrade attack more feasible
A system is affected if it runs macOS Ventura below 13.7 or macOS Sonoma between 14.0 and 14.6, as these versions lack the additional code-signing restrictions added to prevent the downgrade attack vector.
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 · scoped13.714.7
Apply the security update by upgrading to macOS Sequoia 15, macOS Sonoma 14.7, or macOS Ventura 13.7 as appropriate for the deployment.
macOS Sequoia 15 (recommended), or macOS Sonoma 14.7, or macOS Ventura 13.7 depending on your current macOS version
- Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions)
- Click on General in the sidebar
- Click on Software Update
- Allow macOS to check for available updates
- If macOS Sequoia 15, Sonoma 14.7, or Ventura 13.7 is available, click Update Now to download and install it
- Restart your Mac when prompted to complete the installation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-40848 — 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-2024-40848 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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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.
- 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