CVE-2017-13872

Severity: high (CVSS 8.1 v3.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 36.8% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: yes
Published: 2017-11-29 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-287

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.

Affected products

macOS: 10.13.0, 10.13.1

References

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101981
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039875
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/macos-bug-lets-you-log-in-as-admin-with-no-password-required/
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/9302
https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x24.html
https://support.apple.com/HT208315
https://support.apple.com/HT208331
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43201/
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43248/
https://www.wired.com/story/macos-update-undoes-apple-root-bug-patch/
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101981
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039875

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