CVE-2021-30657

Exp

A logic issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.3, Security Update 2021-002 Catalina. A malicious application may bypass Gatekeeper checks. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited..

Published: 2021-09-08 Last update: 2025-10-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-30657 is rated Critical Active Threat (81.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 83.08%, 99th percentile). Core evidence: CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2021-11-03) affecting Apple / macOS. a weakness (CWE-862) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. Mandatory action: The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2021-30657

Name: Apple macOS Unspecified Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2021-11-03

Action due: 2021-11-17

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-30657

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-27 82.94% 83.08% +0.14%
2 2026-03-17 76.26% 82.94% +6.68%
3 2026-01-12 76.26%

Full EPSS history (36 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-30657

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.8 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-30657

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-30657

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apple mac_os_x >= 10.15, <= 10.15.5 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple mac_os_x 10.15.6 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:10.15.6:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple mac_os_x 10.15.6 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:10.15.6:supplemental_update:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple mac_os_x 10.15.7 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:10.15.7:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple mac_os_x 10.15.7 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:10.15.7:security_update_2020:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple mac_os_x 10.15.7 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:10.15.7:security_update_2020-001:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple mac_os_x 10.15.7 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:10.15.7:security_update_2020-005:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple mac_os_x 10.15.7 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:10.15.7:security_update_2020-007:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple mac_os_x 10.15.7 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:10.15.7:supplemental_update:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple macos >= 11.0, < 11.3 cpe:2.3:o:apple:macos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-30657

URL Tags
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212325 Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212326 Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-30657 Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
cvelogic Threat Intelligence