What is CVE-2023-38602?

CVE-2023-38602 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple macOS. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2023-07-27.

How severe is CVE-2023-38602?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.

Is CVE-2023-38602 known to be exploited?

1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Vulnerability in Apple macOS

CVE-2023-38602

A permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Monterey 12.6.8, macOS Ventura 13.5, macOS Big Sur 11.7.9. An app may be able to modify protected parts of the file system.

Published 2023-07-27 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (11.2th percentile), scored 2026-10-03.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 11th percentile — 11.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Apple macOS — versions unspecified

Public proof-of-concept exploits

jp-cpe/retrieve-cvss-scores

References

support.apple.com/en-us/HT213843 (Vendor Advisory)
support.apple.com/en-us/HT213845 (Vendor Advisory)
support.apple.com/en-us/HT213844 (Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-38602?: CVE-2023-38602 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple macOS. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2023-07-27.
How severe is CVE-2023-38602?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2023-38602 known to be exploited?: 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.