Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2013-3954

The posix_spawn system call in the XNU kernel in Apple Mac OS X 10.8.x does not properly validate the data for file actions and port actions, which allows local users to (1) cause a denial of service (panic) via a size value that is inconsistent with a header count field, or (2) obtain sensitive information from kernel heap memory via a certain size value in conjunction with a crafted buffer.

Security Impact Summary

CVE-2013-3954 is a security vulnerability that . Impacting 2 products from apple, from apple organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Documented in 2013, this vulnerability occurred amid the cloud computing expansion era, where traditional network perimeter security models were being reevaluated. Organizations were transitioning from isolated infrastructure to interconnected systems, creating new attack surfaces that vulnerabilities like this could exploit.

Published

2013-06-05T14:39:57.853

Last Modified

2026-04-29T01:13:23.040

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv2: 6.9 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: MEDIUM
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
Availability Impact: COMPLETE

Exploitability Score

3.4

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-20

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Operating System	apple	mac_os_x	10.8.0	Yes
Operating System	apple	mac_os_x	10.8.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	mac_os_x	10.8.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	mac_os_x	10.8.3	Yes
Operating System	apple	mac_os_x	10.8.4	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	≤ 6.1.4	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	1.0.0	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	1.0.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	1.0.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	1.1.0	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	1.1.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	1.1.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	1.1.3	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	1.1.4	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	1.1.5	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	2.0	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	2.0.0	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	2.0.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	2.0.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	2.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	2.1.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	2.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	2.2.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	3.0	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	3.0.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	3.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	3.1.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	3.1.3	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	3.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	3.2.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	3.2.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.0	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.0.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.0.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.2.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.2.5	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.2.8	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.3.0	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.3.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.3.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.3.3	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	4.3.5	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	5.0	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	5.0.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	5.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	5.1.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	6.0	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	6.0.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	6.0.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	6.1	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	6.1.2	Yes
Operating System	apple	iphone_os	6.1.3	Yes

References

http://antid0te.com/syscan_2013/SyScan2013_Mountain_Lion_iOS_Vulnerabilities_Garage_Sale_Whitepaper.pdf Exploit ([email protected])
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2013/Oct/msg00004.html ([email protected])
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2013/Sep/msg00006.html ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/54886 ([email protected])
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5934 ([email protected])
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1029054 ([email protected])
http://www.syscan.org/index.php/sg/program/day/2 ([email protected])
http://antid0te.com/syscan_2013/SyScan2013_Mountain_Lion_iOS_Vulnerabilities_Garage_Sale_Whitepaper.pdf Exploit (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2013/Oct/msg00004.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2013/Sep/msg00006.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/54886 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5934 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1029054 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.syscan.org/index.php/sg/program/day/2 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For apple's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.