Privilege‑Escalation Race Condition in Apple iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS (CVE‑2021‑1782)
What It Is — Apple’s iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS contain a race‑condition vulnerability that may allow a malicious application to elevate its privileges. The issue is tracked as CVE‑2021‑1782.
Exploitability — Publicly disclosed; proof‑of‑concept code exists. CVSS v3.1 base score 7.5 (High). No widespread active exploits reported, but the attack vector is straightforward for a crafted app.
Affected Products — Apple iOS (all supported versions), iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS.
Why It Matters for Trust & Control Assurance
- Tests the access‑control control objective: enforcing least‑privilege and continuously verifying privileged actions.
- Underscores the importance of timely patch management as evidence of due‑diligence in audit trails.
- Drives continuous monitoring of endpoint privilege changes to provide defensible evidence for regulators and enterprise buyers.
Recommended Actions
- Deploy Apple’s latest security updates for all affected operating systems immediately.
- Verify patch status across your device inventory and retain version logs as audit evidence.
- Enable monitoring for anomalous privilege‑escalation events and retain logs for audit readiness.
- Review and tighten application‑allowance policies (e.g., App Store‑only) to reduce exposure.
Source: CISA KEV – CVE‑2021‑1782