About the security content of macOS Big Sur 11.3
This document describes the security content of macOS Big Sur 11.3.
About Apple security updates
For our customers' protection, Apple doesn't disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until an investigation has occurred and patches or releases are available. Recent releases are listed on the Apple security updates page.
Apple security documents reference vulnerabilities by CVE-ID when possible.
For more information about security, see the Apple Product Security page.
macOS Big Sur 11.3
APFS
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A local attacker may be able to elevate their privileges
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-1853: Gary Nield of ECSC Group plc and Tim Michaud(@TimGMichaud) of Zoom Video Communications
AppleMobileFileIntegrity
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to bypass Privacy preferences
Description: An issue in code signature validation was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2021-1849: Siguza
Apple Neural Engine
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation.
CVE-2021-1867: Zuozhi Fan (@pattern_F_) and Wish Wu(吴潍浠) of Ant Group Tianqiong Security Lab
Archive Utility
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may bypass Gatekeeper checks
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-1810: Rasmus Sten (@pajp) of F-Secure
Audio
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: An application may be able to read restricted memory
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation.
CVE-2021-1808: JunDong Xie of Ant Security Light-Year Lab
CFNetwork
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may disclose sensitive user information
Description: A memory initialization issue was addressed with improved memory handling.
CVE-2021-1857: an anonymous researcher
Compression
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation
Description: Processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to arbitrary code execution.
CVE-2021-30752: Ye Zhang (@co0py_Cat) of Baidu Security
CoreAudio
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted file may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking.
CVE-2021-30664: JunDong Xie of Ant Security Light-Year Lab
CoreAudio
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted audio file may disclose restricted memory
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation.
CVE-2021-1846: JunDong Xie of Ant Security Light-Year Lab
CoreAudio
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to read restricted memory
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation.
CVE-2021-1809: JunDong Xie of Ant Security Light-Year Lab
CoreFoundation
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to leak sensitive user information
Description: A validation issue was addressed with improved logic.
CVE-2021-30659: Thijs Alkemade of Computest
CoreGraphics
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Opening a maliciously crafted file may lead to unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation.
CVE-2021-1847: Xuwei Liu of Purdue University
CoreText
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted font may result in the disclosure of process memory
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-1811: Xingwei Lin of Ant Security Light-Year Lab
curl
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious server may be able to disclose active services
Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2020-8284: Marian Rehak
curl
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: An attacker may provide a fraudulent OCSP response that would appear valid
Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2020-8286: an anonymous researcher
curl
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial of service
Description: A buffer overflow was addressed with improved input validation.
CVE-2020-8285: xnynx
DiskArbitration
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to modify protected parts of the file system
Description: A permissions issue existed in DiskArbitration. This was addressed with additional ownership checks.
CVE-2021-1784: Mikko Kenttälä (@Turmio_) of SensorFu, Csaba Fitzl (@theevilbit) of Offensive Security, and an anonymous researcher
FaceTime
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Muting a CallKit call while ringing may not result in mute being enabled
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-1872: Siraj Zaneer of Facebook
FontParser
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted font file may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation.
CVE-2021-1881: an anonymous researcher, Xingwei Lin of Ant Security Light-Year Lab, Mickey Jin of Trend Micro, and Hou JingYi (@hjy79425575) of Qihoo 360
Foundation
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: An application may be able to gain elevated privileges
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation.
CVE-2021-1882: Gabe Kirkpatrick (@gabe_k)
Foundation
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to gain root privileges
Description: A validation issue was addressed with improved logic.
CVE-2021-1813: Cees Elzinga
Heimdal
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted server messages may lead to heap corruption
Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2021-1883: Gabe Kirkpatrick (@gabe_k)
Heimdal
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial of service
Description: A race condition was addressed with improved locking.
CVE-2021-1884: Gabe Kirkpatrick (@gabe_k)
ImageIO
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2021-1880: Xingwei Lin of Ant Security Light-Year Lab
CVE-2021-30653: Ye Zhang of Baidu Security
CVE-2021-1814: Ye Zhang of Baidu Security, Mickey Jin & Qi Sun of Trend Micro, and Xingwei Lin of Ant Security Light-Year Lab
CVE-2021-1843: Ye Zhang of Baidu Security
ImageIO
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved bounds checking.
CVE-2021-1885: CFF of Topsec Alpha Team
ImageIO
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking.
CVE-2021-1858: Mickey Jin of Trend Micro
ImageIO
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: An out-of-bounds write was addressed with improved input validation
Description: Processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to arbitrary code execution.
CVE-2021-30743: Ye Zhang (@co0py_Cat) of Baidu Security, CFF of Topsec Alpha Team, Jzhu working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative, Xingwei Lin of Ant Security Light-Year Lab, CFF of Topsec Alpha Team, Jeonghoon Shin (@singi21a) of THEORI working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative
Installer
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may bypass Gatekeeper checks
Description: This issue was addressed with improved handling of file metadata.
CVE-2021-30658: Wojciech Reguła (@_r3ggi) of SecuRing
Intel Graphics Driver
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking.
CVE-2021-1841: Jack Dates of RET2 Systems, Inc.
CVE-2021-1834: ABC Research s.r.o. working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative
Kernel
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to disclose kernel memory
Description: A memory initialization issue was addressed with improved memory handling.
CVE-2021-1860: @0xalsr
Kernel
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A local attacker may be able to elevate their privileges
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation.
CVE-2021-1840: Zuozhi Fan (@pattern_F_) of Ant Group Tianqiong Security Lab
Kernel
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-1851: @0xalsr
Kernel
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Copied files may not have the expected file permissions
Description: The issue was addressed with improved permissions logic.
CVE-2021-1832: an anonymous researcher
Kernel
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to disclose kernel memory
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved bounds checking.
CVE-2021-30660: Alex Plaskett
libxpc
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to gain root privileges
Description: A race condition was addressed with additional validation.
CVE-2021-30652: James Hutchins
libxslt
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted file may lead to heap corruption
Description: A double free issue was addressed with improved memory management.
CVE-2021-1875: Found by OSS-Fuzz
Login Window
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application with root privileges may be able to access private information
Description: This issue was addressed with improved entitlements.
CVE-2021-1824: Wojciech Reguła (@_r3ggi) of SecuRing
Notes
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Locked Notes content may have been unexpectedly unlocked
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-1859: Syed Ali Shuja (@SyedAliShuja) of Colour King Pvt. Ltd
NSRemoteView
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: A use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management.
CVE-2021-1876: Matthew Denton of Google Chrome
Preferences
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A local user may be able to modify protected parts of the file system
Description: A parsing issue in the handling of directory paths was addressed with improved path validation.
CVE-2021-1815: Zhipeng Huo (@R3dF09) and Yuebin Sun (@yuebinsun2020) of Tencent Security Xuanwu Lab (xlab.tencent.com)
CVE-2021-1739: Zhipeng Huo (@R3dF09) and Yuebin Sun (@yuebinsun2020) of Tencent Security Xuanwu Lab (xlab.tencent.com)
CVE-2021-1740: Zhipeng Huo (@R3dF09) and Yuebin Sun (@yuebinsun2020) of Tencent Security Xuanwu Lab (xlab.tencent.com)
Safari
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious website may be able to track users by setting state in a cache
Description: An issue existed in determining cache occupancy. The issue was addressed through improved logic.
CVE-2021-1861: Konstantinos Solomos of University of Illinois at Chicago
Safari
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious website may be able to force unnecessary network connections to fetch its favicon
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-1855: Håvard Mikkelsen Ottestad of HASMAC AS
SampleAnalysis
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A local attacker may be able to elevate their privileges
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-1868: Tim Michaud of Zoom Communications
Sandbox
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to access the user's recent contacts
Description: The issue was addressed with improved permissions logic.
CVE-2021-30750: Csaba Fitzl (@theevilbit) of Offensive Security
smbx
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: An attacker in a privileged network position may be able to leak sensitive user information
Description: An integer overflow was addressed with improved input validation.
CVE-2021-1878: Aleksandar Nikolic of Cisco Talos (talosintelligence.com)
System Preferences
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may bypass Gatekeeper checks. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-30657: Cedric Owens (@cedowens)
TCC
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious unsandboxed app on a system with Remote Login enabled may bypass Privacy preferences
Description: This issue was addressed by adding a new Remote Login option for opting into Full Disk Access for Secure Shell sessions.
CVE-2021-30856: Csaba Fitzl (@theevilbit) of Offensive Security, Andy Grant of Zoom Video Communications, Thijs Alkemade of Computest Research Division, Wojciech Reguła of SecuRing (wojciechregula.blog), Cody Thomas of SpecterOps, Mickey Jin of Trend Micro
tcpdump
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial of service
Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2020-8037: an anonymous researcher
Time Machine
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A local attacker may be able to elevate their privileges
Description: The issue was addressed with improved permissions logic.
CVE-2021-1839: Tim Michaud(@TimGMichaud) of Zoom Video Communications and Gary Nield of ECSC Group plc
WebKit
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to a cross site scripting attack
Description: An input validation issue was addressed with improved input validation.
CVE-2021-1825: Alex Camboe of Aon’s Cyber Solutions
WebKit
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-1817: zhunki
WebKit
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to universal cross site scripting
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved restrictions.
CVE-2021-1826: an anonymous researcher
WebKit
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may result in the disclosure of process memory
Description: A memory initialization issue was addressed with improved memory handling.
CVE-2021-1820: André Bargull
WebKit Storage
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.
Description: A use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management.
CVE-2021-30661: yangkang(@dnpushme) of 360 ATA
WebRTC
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to cause unexpected system termination or corrupt kernel memory
Description: A use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management.
CVE-2020-7463: Megan2013678
Wi-Fi
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: An application may be able to cause unexpected system termination or write kernel memory
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation.
CVE-2021-1828: Zuozhi Fan (@pattern_F_) of Ant Group Tianqiong Security Lab
Wi-Fi
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: A type confusion issue was addressed with improved state handling.
CVE-2021-1829: Tielei Wang of Pangu Lab
Wi-Fi
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges
Description: The issue was addressed with improved permissions logic.
CVE-2021-30655: Gary Nield of ECSC Group plc and Tim Michaud(@TimGMichaud) of Zoom Video Communications and Wojciech Reguła (@_r3ggi) of SecuRing
Wi-Fi
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management
Description: A buffer overflow may result in arbitrary code execution.
CVE-2021-1770: Jiska Classen (@naehrdine) of Secure Mobile Networking Lab, TU Darmstadt
WindowServer
Available for: macOS Big Sur
Impact: A malicious application may be able to unexpectedly leak a user's credentials from secure text fields
Description: An API issue in Accessibility TCC permissions was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2021-1873: an anonymous researcher
Additional recognition
AirDrop
We would like to acknowledge @maxzks for their assistance.
CoreAudio
We would like to acknowledge an anonymous researcher for their assistance.
CoreCrypto
We would like to acknowledge Andy Russon of Orange Group for their assistance.
File Bookmark
We would like to acknowledge an anonymous researcher for their assistance.
Foundation
We would like to acknowledge CodeColorist of Ant-Financial LightYear Labs for their assistance.
Kernel
We would like to acknowledge Antonio Frighetto of Politecnico di Milano, GRIMM, Keyu Man, Zhiyun Qian, Zhongjie Wang, Xiaofeng Zheng, Youjun Huang, Haixin Duan, Mikko Kenttälä ( @Turmio_ ) of SensorFu, and Proteas for their assistance.
We would like to acknowledge Petter Flink, SecOps of Bonnier News and an anonymous researcher for their assistance.
Safari
We would like to acknowledge Sahil Mehra (Nullr3x) & Shivam Kamboj Dattana (Sechunt3r) for their assistance.
Security
We would like to acknowledge Xingwei Lin of Ant Security Light-Year Lab and john (@nyan_satan) for their assistance.
sysdiagnose
We would like to acknowledge Tim Michaud (@TimGMichaud) of Leviathan for their assistance.
WebKit
We would like to acknowledge Emilio Cobos Álvarez of Mozilla for their assistance.
WebSheet
We would like to acknowledge Patrick Clover for their assistance.
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