Security Resilience

CVE-2021-30869

Memory Safety in Apple Mac Os X 10.14 – 10.14.6

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedMemory Safety
Published
24 August 2021
Modified
23 October 2025
KEV Added
03 November 2021
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.041 91th percentile
Risk Priority 83 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2021-30869 is a high-severity Type Confusion (CWE-843) vulnerability in Apple Mac Os X. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

A type confusion vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2021-30869 and assigned CWE-843, was present in multiple Apple operating systems. The flaw was addressed through improved state handling and affected iOS prior to 12.5.5 and 14.4, iPadOS prior to 14.4, macOS Big Sur prior to 11.2, and earlier Catalina and Mojave releases addressed by the listed 2021 security updates. The CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8 reflects local attack vector, low complexity, and no privileges required.

A malicious application running on an affected device can exploit the issue to achieve arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges. The attack requires user interaction such as opening a crafted file or application but needs no prior authentication.

Apple security advisories for the listed updates state that the vulnerability has been resolved in the specified iOS, iPadOS, and macOS releases. The vendor notes that it is aware of reports indicating an exploit for this issue exists in the wild.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A type confusion issue was addressed with improved state handling. This issue is fixed in iOS 12.5.5, iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4, macOS Big Sur 11.2, Security Update 2021-001 Catalina, Security Update 2021-001 Mojave, Security Update 2021-006 Catalina. A malicious…

more

application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Apple is aware of reports that an exploit for this issue exists in the wild.

CWE(s)
CWE-843
KEV Date Added
03 November 2021

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
attack.mitre.org →
T1011.001 Exfiltration Over Bluetooth Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over Bluetooth rather than the command and control channel.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

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CVE-2022-42856Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2024-23222Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2023-41060Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-41075Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-32358Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-32439Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2026-43705Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-27930Same product: Apple Ipados

Affected Assets

apple
ipados
≤ 14.4
apple
iphone os
12.0 — 12.5.5 · 14.0 — 14.4
apple
mac os x
10.14.6, 10.15.7 · 10.14 — 10.14.6 · 10.15 — 10.15.6
apple
macos
11.0 — 11.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.5.2
  • V15.3.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent type-confusion flaws via safe typing, static analysis, and code review while the control itself addresses many additional weaknesses.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References