Code execution via crafted Grapher file
Published Nov 1, 2022 · Updated Apr 22, 2025
Memory corruption in Grapher in Apple macOS before 13 allows attackers to crash the app or execute arbitrary code via a crafted .gcx file. Grapher mishandles memory while parsing untrusted .gcx content; Apple has not disclosed the exact parser operation or memory-safety failure. Exploitation requires a user to open or otherwise process the file, and successful code execution runs in the affected application context.
Summary
What happened
Memory corruption in Grapher in Apple macOS before 13 allows attackers to crash the app or execute arbitrary code via a crafted .gcx file. Grapher mishandles memory while parsing untrusted .gcx content; Apple has not disclosed the exact parser operation or memory-safety failure. Exploitation requires a user to open or otherwise process the file, and successful code execution runs in the affected application context.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-42809
- Published
- Nov 1, 2022
- Updated
- Apr 22, 2025
- Vendor
- Apple
- Product
- macOS
- Classifications
- CWE-119, T1203
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Nov 1, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 22, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=unspecified <13
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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