dbcve.org
Command InjectionWeakness · CWE-77

CVE-2025-11921

HIGH · 8.5 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-11-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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
iStats contains an insecure XPC service that allows local, unprivileged users to escalate their privileges to root via command injection.This issue affects iStats: 7.10.4.

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 · high confidence

iStats version 7.10.4 contains an insecure XPC service that allows local, unprivileged users to escalate privileges to root through command injection. The vulnerability exists in the inter-process communication mechanism where user-supplied input is not properly sanitized before being executed with elevated privileges.

MitigationUpdate iStats to a patched version once available. If no patch exists, implement proper input validation, sanitization, and authorization checks in the XPC service to prevent command injection and ensure only authorized processes can invoke privileged operations.

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
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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 if iStats is installed
    Run 'gem list istats' or 'which istats' to check for iStats installation; on macOS also check /Applications folder and Spotlight search for iStats
    Affected if iStats version 7.10.4 is installed and the XPC service component is present on the system
  2. Locate the iStats XPC service
    Search for XPC service files related to iStats: typical paths include ~/Library/Containers/, /Library/LaunchAgents/, or within the iStats application bundle; use 'find / -name '*istats*' -type f 2>/dev/null' to locate related files
    Affected if An XPC service binary or plist file associated with iStats exists on the system
  3. Verify if the XPC service is running
    Run 'launchctl list | grep -i istats' to check if the service is loaded, or examine running processes for istats-related XPC services
    Affected if The iStats XPC service is currently loaded and running via launchd
  4. Confirm the vulnerability condition
    Compare your installed iStats version to 7.10.4; if the XPC service is present and lacks code signature verification or authorization checks in its connection handler, the system is vulnerable
    Affected if iStats version 7.10.4 is installed AND the XPC service is present and accessible to local unprivileged users

You are affected if iStats version 7.10.4 is installed and its XPC service is present and running on the system, allowing any local user to potentially execute code with elevated privileges.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update iStats to a patched version once available. If no patch exists, implement proper input validation, sanitization, and authorization checks in the XPC service to prevent command injection and ensure only authorized processes can invoke privileged operations.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest version of iStat Menus (any version newer than 7.10.4 that includes the security fix for CVE-2025-11921)

  1. Check the current installed version of iStats (iStat Menus) by opening the app and looking in About or checking via command line with: defaults read /Applications/iStat\ Menus.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString
  2. Identify the exact vulnerable version (7.10.4) - if running this version, the system is vulnerable
  3. Check for available updates via the iStat Menus built-in update checker (iStat Menus menu > Check for Updates) or visit the official vendor site (bjango.com or istatmenus.app)
  4. Download and install the latest version of iStat Menus that contains the security patch for this vulnerability
  5. After updating, verify the new version is installed: defaults read /Applications/iStat\ Menus.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString
  6. Confirm the XPC service vulnerability is remediated by ensuring the updated version is running
Caveat Review release notes for any configuration or behavioral changes between versions; minor version updates typically have low risk

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2025-11921 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