CVE-2020-14977Public exploit

Local privilege escalation via PID reuse

Published Jun 23, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Local privilege escalation in F-Secure SAFE 17.7 for macOS allows local users to execute commands through a privileged XPC service. The service validates a connecting client's code signature by its reusable PID, allowing a racing process to retain the PID while replacing itself with a trusted F-Secure binary. Exploitation requires code execution on an already compromised Mac and yields privileged command execution on that host.

CVSS severity8.1
High
EPSS probability2.78%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Local privilege escalation in F-Secure SAFE 17.7 for macOS allows local users to execute commands through a privileged XPC service. The service validates a connecting client's code signature by its reusable PID, allowing a racing process to retain the PID while replacing itself with a trusted F-Secure binary. Exploitation requires code execution on an already compromised Mac and yields privileged command execution on that host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-14977
Published
Jun 23, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 23, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

9.3NIST NVDAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
8.1NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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