CVE-2019-8838: 
macOS vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2019-8838 is a memory corruption vulnerability discovered in Apple's operating systems. The vulnerability was fixed in iOS 13.3 and iPadOS 13.3, watchOS 6.1.1, macOS Catalina 10.15.2, Security Update 2019-002 Mojave, Security Update 2019-007 High Sierra, and tvOS 13.3, released on December 10, 2019. The vulnerability was discovered by Dr Silvio Cesare of InfoSect (Apple Security).

The vulnerability is classified as a memory corruption issue in the kernel that was addressed with improved memory handling. It has a CVSS v3.1 Base Score of 7.8 (HIGH) with the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. The vulnerability is also associated with CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) (NVD).

If exploited, this vulnerability could allow an application to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges, potentially giving an attacker complete control over the affected device (Apple Security).

The vulnerability requires local access and user interaction to be exploited. The attack complexity is considered low, and no privileges are required to execute the attack (NVD).

Apple has released security updates to address this vulnerability across multiple operating systems: iOS 13.3 and iPadOS 13.3, watchOS 6.1.1, macOS Catalina 10.15.2, Security Update 2019-002 Mojave, Security Update 2019-007 High Sierra, and tvOS 13.3. Users should update their devices to these versions or later to protect against this vulnerability (Apple Security).