What is CVE-2023-42981?

CVE-2023-42981 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple macOS, classified under Improper Input Validation. CVSS score: 5.4/10. Published 2025-04-11.

How severe is CVE-2023-42981?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.4 out of 10.

Improper input validation in Apple macOS

CVE-2023-42981

Processing a file may lead to a denial-of-service or potentially disclose memory contents. This issue is fixed in macOS 14. The issue was addressed with improved checks.

Vulnerability class: Drupalgeddon 2 (CVE-2018-7600)

Published 2025-04-11 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.4 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.003 (22.7th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 23rd percentile — 22.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.003 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Apple macOS — versions unspecified, 14.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-20 — Improper Input Validation

References

support.apple.com/en-us/120950 (Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-42981?: CVE-2023-42981 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple macOS, classified under Improper Input Validation. CVSS score: 5.4/10. Published 2025-04-11.
How severe is CVE-2023-42981?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.4 out of 10.