IRONSMITHINTEL
HIGHCVSS7.0
|
Actively Exploited
|CISA KEV|CVE-2021-1782|Auth: low — authenticated user|Reboot: required|Manual only

Apple Multiple Products Race Condition Vulnerability (CVE-2021-1782)

Apple iOS, iPadOs, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS contain a race condition vulnerability that may allow a malicious application to elevate privileges.

Published Apr 2, 2021 · Updated May 17, 2026
Why patchRisk explained in plain English
Worst-case scenarioIf unpatched

A local attacker, with a low-privilege account, can achieve full data confidentiality loss, arbitrary modification of data, complete denial of service or system unavailability. Federal agencies are required to remediate by 2021-11-17 under CISA BOD 22-01.

How the attack worksNo clicks needed

This is a Software Vulnerability (CWE-667) (CWE-667) vulnerability in Apple Multiple Products. A race condition was addressed with improved locking. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.2, Security Update 2021-001 Catalina, Security Update 2021-001 Mojave, watchOS 7.3, tvOS 14.4, iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4. A malicious application may be able to elevate privileges. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.. Exploitation requires local access, higher attack complexity, a low-privilege authenticated account, and no user interaction required.

Am I affected?Quick check

Probably yes if any of these apply:

●Apple Device Administrators
●Endpoint Security
●IT Security
●Running ipados: v < 14.4; iphone os: v < 14.4; mac os x: 10.14 ≤ v < 10.14.6, 10.15 ≤ v < 10.15.7, 10.14.6, 10.15.7; macos: 11.0 ≤ v < 11.2; tvos: v < 14.4; watchos: v < 7.3
Real-world incidentsWhat we've seen

CISA added this CVE to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03 based on evidence of active exploitation in the wild. Federal agencies required to remediate by 2021-11-17.

How to patch

Manual remediation steps

1
Identify affected hosts: query inventory for general installs in scope.
2
Apply the vendor security update referenced in CVE-2021-1782's advisory. No specific KB/version is encoded yet — consult the linked MSRC/vendor URL.
3
Verify the fix per the vendor's published verification steps.
4
Document the remediation in your change ticket and re-scan with your vulnerability scanner to confirm closure.
PowerShell automationComing soon

No tested PowerShell script for this entry yet. We’re prioritising automation based on user demand.

References

↗ CVE-2021-1782↗ MSRC Advisory↗ NVD↗ Vendor Advisory