AuthenticatorApplication · Gematik

CVE-2026-33874

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.16.0 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
Gematik Authenticator securely authenticates users for login to digital health applications. Starting in version 4.12.0 and prior to version 4.16.0, the Mac OS version of the Authenticator is vulnerable to remote code execution, triggered when victims open a malicious file. Update the gematik Authenticator to version 4.16.0 or greater to receive a patch. There are no known workarounds.

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

The Gematik Authenticator application for Mac OS (versions 4.12.0 through before 4.16.0) contains a remote code execution vulnerability that triggers when a user opens a malicious file, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.

MitigationUpdate the Gematik Authenticator to version 4.16.0 or later on all affected Mac OS systems to remediate this file-based RCE vulnerability.

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
AuthenticatorApplication
Affected:>= 4.12.0, < 4.16.0

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Gematik Authenticator is installed
    Check the /Applications folder for the Gematik Authenticator.app application bundle, or search using Spotlight (Cmd+F in Finder, search for 'Gematik Authenticator')
    Affected if The application exists on the system
  2. Locate the installed version number
    Right-click Gematik Authenticator.app in Applications, select 'Get Info', and read the version number under the 'General' information section. Alternatively, run this command in Terminal: defaults read /Applications/Gematik\ Authenticator.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString
    Affected if A version number is returned from the application
  3. Compare version against affected range
    Take the installed version and determine whether it falls within >= 4.12.0 and < 4.16.0
    Affected if The installed version is 4.12.0, 4.12.1, 4.13.0, 4.14.0, 4.15.0, 4.15.1, or any version starting with 4.12 through 4.15 (but not 4.16.0 or higher)

The system is affected if Gematik Authenticator is installed and its version is 4.12.0 or higher but lower than 4.16.0.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.16.0 or later
Fixed in 4.16.0
Interim mitigation

Update the Gematik Authenticator to version 4.16.0 or later on all affected Mac OS systems to remediate this file-based RCE vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

version 4.16.0 or greater

  1. Download Gematik Authenticator version 4.16.0 or later from the official vendor source
  2. Install the updated version, replacing the vulnerable installation (versions 4.12.0 through 4.15.x)
  3. Verify the installed version is 4.16.0 or greater after installation

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

Fix this in Authenticator Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2026-33874 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