9.3
HIGH CVSS 2.0
CVE-2017-13872
Apple Directory Utility Path Traversal Vulnerability
Description

An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. macOS High Sierra before Security Update 2017-001 is affected. The issue involves the "Directory Utility" component. It allows attackers to obtain administrator access without a password via certain interactions involving entry of the root user name.

INFO

Published Date :

Nov. 29, 2017, 5:29 p.m.

Last Modified :

April 20, 2025, 1:37 a.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !

Source :

[email protected]
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2017-13872 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Apple mac_os_x
2 Apple mac_os_x
: Total Affected Vendor : 1 | Products : 2
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 2.0 HIGH [email protected]
CVSS 3.0 HIGH [email protected]
Solution
Follow the instructions below to mitigate the CVE-2017-13872 vulnerability.
Apply Apple Security Update 2017-001.
Public PoC/Exploit Available at Github

CVE-2017-13872 has a 9 public PoC/Exploit available at Github. Go to the Public Exploits tab to see the list.

References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to CVE-2017-13872.

URL Resource
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101981 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039875 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/macos-bug-lets-you-log-in-as-admin-with-no-password-required/ Mitigation Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/9302
https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x24.html Exploit Technical Description Third Party Advisory
https://support.apple.com/HT208315 Vendor Advisory
https://support.apple.com/HT208331
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43201/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43248/
https://www.wired.com/story/macos-update-undoes-apple-root-bug-patch/ Press/Media Coverage Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101981 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039875 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/macos-bug-lets-you-log-in-as-admin-with-no-password-required/ Mitigation Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/9302
https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x24.html Exploit Technical Description Third Party Advisory
https://support.apple.com/HT208315 Vendor Advisory
https://support.apple.com/HT208331
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43201/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43248/
https://www.wired.com/story/macos-update-undoes-apple-root-bug-patch/ Press/Media Coverage Third Party Advisory
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2017-13872 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2017-13872 weaknesses.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Profile Photo
CryptoNinja0331/WHID_Toolkit

None

Python

Updated: 11 months, 1 week ago
1 stars 0 fork 0 watcher
Born at : Sept. 9, 2024, 7:27 a.m. This repo has been linked 1 different CVEs too.
Profile Photo
techanv-bot/WHID_Toolkit

Unleashing the toolkit that makes hackers rethink their life choices. For the discerning pentester.

Python

Updated: 1 year, 1 month ago
0 stars 0 fork 0 watcher
Born at : June 23, 2024, 1:15 p.m. This repo has been linked 1 different CVEs too.
Profile Photo
ruxzy1/rootOS

None

Python

Updated: 1 year, 7 months ago
0 stars 0 fork 0 watcher
Born at : Dec. 28, 2023, 12:26 p.m. This repo has been linked 6 different CVEs too.
Profile Photo
Ra7mo0on/WHID_Toolkit

None

Python

Updated: 4 years, 10 months ago
0 stars 0 fork 0 watcher
Born at : Oct. 5, 2020, 10:48 a.m. This repo has been linked 1 different CVEs too.
Profile Photo
TH3-HUNT3R/Root-MacOS

macOS Privilege Escalation ;)

Python

Updated: 1 year, 5 months ago
3 stars 0 fork 0 watcher
Born at : Aug. 21, 2020, 11:55 a.m. This repo has been linked 6 different CVEs too.
Profile Photo
thehappydinoa/rootOS

macOS Privilege Escalation Helper

Python

Updated: 1 month, 3 weeks ago
142 stars 25 fork 25 watcher
Born at : Feb. 26, 2019, 2:13 a.m. This repo has been linked 6 different CVEs too.
Profile Photo
giovannidispoto/CVE-2017-13872-Patch

None

C

Updated: 7 years, 8 months ago
0 stars 0 fork 0 watcher
Born at : Nov. 30, 2017, 8:22 a.m. This repo has been linked 1 different CVEs too.
Profile Photo
axelvf/tools-highsierraroot

High Sierra root vulnerability validator

cve highsierra security-tools macos root

Updated: 7 years, 7 months ago
2 stars 0 fork 0 watcher
Born at : Nov. 29, 2017, 9:29 p.m. This repo has been linked 1 different CVEs too.
Profile Photo
swisskyrepo/WHID_Toolkit

Simple script for the WHID injector - a rubberducky wifi

hid usb-hid usb-rubber-ducky rubber-ducky payload keyboard

Python

Updated: 3 weeks, 6 days ago
109 stars 46 fork 46 watcher
Born at : Nov. 16, 2017, 9 p.m. This repo has been linked 1 different CVEs too.

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2017-13872 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

Results are limited to the first 20 news articles due to potential performance issues.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2017-13872 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • CVE Modified by af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108

    Nov. 21, 2024

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101981
    Added Reference http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039875
    Added Reference https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/macos-bug-lets-you-log-in-as-admin-with-no-password-required/
    Added Reference https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/9302
    Added Reference https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x24.html
    Added Reference https://support.apple.com/HT208315
    Added Reference https://support.apple.com/HT208331
    Added Reference https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43201/
    Added Reference https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43248/
    Added Reference https://www.wired.com/story/macos-update-undoes-apple-root-bug-patch/
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    May. 14, 2024

    Action Type Old Value New Value
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Dec. 30, 2017

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/9302 [No Types Assigned]
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Dec. 26, 2017

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://support.apple.com/HT208331 [No Types Assigned]
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Dec. 21, 2017

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43248/ [No Types Assigned]
  • Initial Analysis by [email protected]

    Dec. 14, 2017

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added CVSS V2 (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C)
    Added CVSS V3 AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Changed Reference Type https://www.wired.com/story/macos-update-undoes-apple-root-bug-patch/ No Types Assigned https://www.wired.com/story/macos-update-undoes-apple-root-bug-patch/ Press/Media Coverage, Third Party Advisory
    Changed Reference Type http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101981 No Types Assigned http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101981 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
    Changed Reference Type https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43201/ No Types Assigned https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43201/ Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
    Changed Reference Type https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/macos-bug-lets-you-log-in-as-admin-with-no-password-required/ No Types Assigned https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/macos-bug-lets-you-log-in-as-admin-with-no-password-required/ Mitigation, Third Party Advisory
    Changed Reference Type http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039875 No Types Assigned http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039875 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
    Changed Reference Type https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x24.html No Types Assigned https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x24.html Exploit, Technical Description, Third Party Advisory
    Changed Reference Type https://support.apple.com/HT208315 No Types Assigned https://support.apple.com/HT208315 Vendor Advisory
    Added CWE CWE-287
    Added CPE Configuration OR *cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:10.13.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:10.13.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Dec. 12, 2017

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43201/ [No Types Assigned]
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Dec. 03, 2017

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://www.wired.com/story/macos-update-undoes-apple-root-bug-patch/ [No Types Assigned]
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Dec. 01, 2017

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039875 [No Types Assigned]
    Added Reference http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101981 [No Types Assigned]
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Nov. 30, 2017

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x24.html [No Types Assigned]
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.
Vulnerability Scoring Details
Base CVSS Score: 8.1
Attack Vector
Attack Complexity
Privileges Required
User Interaction
Scope
Confidentiality Impact
Integrity Impact
Availability Impact
Base CVSS Score: 9.3
Access Vector
Access Complexity
Authentication
Confidentiality Impact
Integrity Impact
Availability Impact
Exploit Prediction

EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days.

76.66 }} -0.62%

score

0.98877

percentile