CVE-2024-44283VulnerabilityPublished 28 Oct 2024Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2024-44283: Apple macOS · Parsing a maliciously crafted file may lead to an unexpected app termination

Affects Apple macOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium · fixed in 15.1 : update Apple macOS when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 45% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 15.1

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 28 Oct 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apple macOS	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Organizations should prioritize patching affected macOS systems by upgrading to macOS Sequoia 15.1, Sonoma 14.7.1, Ventura 13.7.1, or later versions where the vulnerability is fixed. Beyond patching, implement strict controls on file handling by restricting or sandboxing applications that process untrusted files, especially email clients and document viewers. Employ endpoint protection solutions capable of detecting anomalous application crashes or suspicious file parsing behavior. Educate users to avoid opening files from untrusted or unknown sources and to report unexpected application crashes promptly. Network-level defenses such as email filtering and attachment scanning can reduce the likelihood of malicious files reaching end users. For critical systems, consider application whitelisting and the use of macOS’s built-in security features like Gatekeeper and System Integrity Protection to limit exposure. Regularly monitor logs for crash events that may indicate exploitation attempts. Finally, maintain an incident response plan that includes procedures for handling denial-of-service conditions caused by application crashes.

Description

An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.1, macOS Sonoma 14.7.1, macOS Ventura 13.7.1. Parsing a maliciously crafted file may lead to an unexpected app termination.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-44283 is denial of service through unexpected application termination when processing malicious files. For organizations, this can lead to disruption of critical applications, loss of productivity, and potential cascading failures if dependent processes are affected. While it does not compromise data confidentiality or integrity, repeated crashes could be exploited to degrade system availability or cause instability in environments where macOS applications handle untrusted files, such as email clients, document viewers, or file-sharing services. In sensitive or high-availability environments, such as financial institutions, healthcare providers, or government agencies relying on macOS endpoints, this could result in operational interruptions. Additionally, attackers might use this vulnerability as a vector to distract or delay incident response during multi-stage attacks. The lack of required privileges lowers the barrier to exploitation, increasing risk in environments where users might open untrusted files. However, the need for user interaction limits remote automated exploitation.

CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessCWE Top 25 (2025): #8
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Use a language that provides appropriate memory abstractions.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Overread Buffers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Apr 2026, 00:09 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-125

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats