CVE-2024-44203
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 · moderate confidenceThis is a macOS permissions bypass vulnerability affecting Photos Library access controls. An app could improperly access a user's Photos Library due to insufficient restrictions, allowing unauthorized access to private photo data. The fix in macOS Sequoia 15 adds additional permission restrictions to prevent unauthorized Photos Library access.
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
- 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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Determine macOS versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or check System Settings > About > macOS versionAffected if The version is below 15.0 (pre-Sequoia)
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Identify apps with Photos Library accessOpen System Settings > Privacy & Security > Photos, or run 'tccutil list' to see apps with Photos entitlementsAffected if Any untrusted or third-party app has Photos access and macOS version is below 15.0
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Check if Photos Library is enabledOpen Photos app, or check if ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary exists and is accessibleAffected if A Photos Library exists and the system is running macOS below 15.0
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Review third-party app installationsCheck /Applications folder or run 'ls /Applications' for non-Apple apps that may request Photos accessAffected if Third-party applications with Photos permissions exist on a macOS version below 15.0
The environment is affected if running macOS versions prior to 15.0 (Sequoia) with any third-party apps granted Photos Library access.
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
Apply the macOS Sequoia 15 security update to affected systems to remediate this vulnerability. For enterprise environments, deploy the update via MDM or patch management tools.
macOS Sequoia 15.0
- Check the current macOS version by clicking the Apple menu and selecting About This Mac
- Ensure all critical data is backed up (Time Machine or other backup solution recommended)
- Open System Settings > General > Software Update
- If macOS Sequoia 15.0 or later is available, click Download and Install
- Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the upgrade process
- Restart the Mac when prompted to complete the installation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-44203 — 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-2024-44203 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