Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2020-27938 is an Apple macOS privilege-escalation flaw. A malicious application may be able to gain higher privileges on an affected Mac. Apple states the issue was fixed through improved state management in Big Sur and Catalina/Mojave security updates.
Executive priority
Address during normal vulnerability remediation, faster for high-risk users or unmanaged Macs. Business urgency is meaningful because privilege escalation can deepen an existing compromise, but public evidence here does not show remote exploitation or active campaigns.
Technical view
Apple describes this as a logic issue in macOS addressed with improved state management. The public record does not name a component, CWE, CVSS score, or detailed trigger. The documented impact is local privilege escalation by a malicious application, with fixes in specified Big Sur, Catalina, and Mojave updates.
Likely exposure
Exposure is primarily Macs running macOS versions before the Apple security updates listed for Big Sur, Catalina, or Mojave. The source bundle does not identify a narrower component, configuration, or affected build range.
Exploitation context
The source bundle says exploitation would require a malicious application. It does not cite active exploitation, public exploit availability, or CISA KEV listing. Treat this as a post-compromise or user-executed-app privilege escalation risk.
Researcher notes
Public detail is sparse. Apple attributes the fix to improved state management and lists the impact as privilege escalation by a malicious application. No CVSS, CWE, component name, or exploit telemetry is provided in the supplied sources.
Mitigation direction
- Install the relevant Apple macOS security update for each supported fleet version.
- Prioritize devices permitting untrusted or unmanaged applications.
- Confirm endpoint controls restrict execution of unknown macOS applications.
- Check Apple guidance for version-specific remediation details.
Validation and detection
- Inventory macOS Big Sur, Catalina, and Mojave devices.
- Verify installed build or security update level against Apple advisories.
- Review EDR alerts for suspicious application execution on outdated Macs.
- Confirm software management reports successful update installation.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2020-27938 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212011CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212147CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.