An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. macOS High Sierra before Security Update 2017-001 is affected. The issue involves the "Directory Utility" component. It allows attackers to obtain administrator access without a password via certain interactions involving entry of the root user name.
CVE-2017-13872
Score 8.1 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2022-05-14. NVD baseline CVSS 8.1; sources differ by 0.0.
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 8.1
- EG Score
- 8.1(medium)
- EPSS
- 98.3%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
November 29, 2017
Last Modified
May 13, 2026
References (20)
- product-security@applehttp://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101981
- product-security@applehttp://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039875
- product-security@applehttps://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/macos-bug-lets-you-log-in-as-admin-with-no-password-required/
- product-security@applehttps://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/9302
- product-security@applehttps://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x24.html
- product-security@applehttps://support.apple.com/HT208315
- product-security@applehttps://support.apple.com/HT208331
- product-security@applehttps://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43201/
- product-security@applehttps://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43248/
- product-security@applehttps://www.wired.com/story/macos-update-undoes-apple-root-bug-patch/
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101981
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039875
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/macos-bug-lets-you-log-in-as-admin-with-no-password-required/
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/9302
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x24.html
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 5× in last 7d / 26× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:15 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 25 moreShow fewer
- 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-22 07:38 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-22 07:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
Publicly available exploits
(4 references)Working exploit code is in the public domain (2 Metasploit modules) (2 Exploit-DB entries). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- Exploit-DBEDB-43201✓ verifiedFirst seen Nov 30, 2017
Apple macOS 10.13.1 (High Sierra) - 'Blank Root' Local Privilege Escalation (Metasploit)
Open source ↗ - Metasploitexploit/osx/local/root_no_password✓ verifiedFirst seen Nov 29, 2017
Mac OS X Root Privilege Escalation
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-43248✓ verifiedFirst seen Nov 28, 2017
Apple macOS 10.13.1 (High Sierra) - 'Blank Root' Local Privilege Escalation
Open source ↗ - Metasploitauxiliary/scanner/vnc/ard_root_pw✓ verifiedFirst seen Jan 1, 2017
Apple Remote Desktop Root Vulnerability
Open source ↗
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2017-13872?
When was CVE-2017-13872 disclosed?
Is CVE-2017-13872 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-13872?
How do I remediate CVE-2017-13872?
Dependency Blast Radius
Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2017-13872
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2017-13872?
EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.