Apple macOS up to 10.13.1 tcpdump memory corruption

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
9.6	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Apple macOS up to 10.13.1. The affected element is an unknown function of the component tcpdump. Performing a manipulation results in memory corruption. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2017-12994. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Apple macOS up to 10.13.1 (Operating System). It has been classified as very critical. This affects an unknown functionality of the component tcpdump. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory corruption vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-119. The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it can read from or write to a memory location that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

The BGP parser in tcpdump before 4.9.2 has a buffer over-read in print-bgp.c:bgp_attr_print().

The bug was discovered 09/11/2017. The weakness was published 10/31/2017 as HT208221 as confirmed advisory (Website). The advisory is shared at support.apple.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2017-12994 since 08/21/2017. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 12/05/2025). It is expected to see the exploit prices for this product increasing in the near future. The advisory points out:

Multiple issues were addressed by updating to version 4.9.2.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 100472 (AIX 5.3 TL 12 : tcpdump (IV94729)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family AIX Local Security Checks and running in the context l. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 370625 (Apple macOS High Sierra 10.13.1, Security Update 2017-001 Sierra, and Security Update 2017-004 El Capitan Not Installed).

Upgrading to version 10.13.1 eliminates this vulnerability. A possible mitigation has been published immediately after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (100472). Similar entries are available at VDB-21822, VDB-21823, VDB-106590 and VDB-106591. If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

Operating System

Vendor

Apple

Name

macOS

Version

License

commercial

Website

Vendor: https://www.apple.com/

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 9.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.6

VulDB Base Score: 9.8
VulDB Temp Score: 9.4
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 9.8
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Memory corruption
CWE: CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 100472
Nessus Name: AIX 5.3 TL 12 : tcpdump (IV94729)
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍
Nessus Context: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 53377
OpenVAS Name: Debian Security Advisory DSA 3971-1 (tcpdump - security update)
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

Reaction Time: 🔍
0-Day Time: 🔍
Exposure Time: 🔍

Upgrade: macOS 10.13.1
Patch: github.com

Timelineinfo

05/30/2017 🔍
08/21/2017 +83 days 🔍
09/11/2017 +21 days 🔍
09/14/2017 +3 days 🔍
10/31/2017 +47 days 🔍
10/31/2017 +0 days 🔍
11/03/2017 +3 days 🔍
12/05/2025 +2953 days 🔍