CVE-2021-31010 — Apple iOS, macOS, watchOS Sandbox Bypass Vulnerability

A deserialization issue was addressed through improved validation. This issue is fixed in Security Update 2021-005 Catalina, iOS 12.5.5, iOS 14.8 and iPadOS 14.8, macOS Big Sur 11.6, watchOS 7.6.2. A sandboxed process may be able to circumvent sandbox restrictions. Apple was awar

01What is this vulnerability?

A deserialization issue was addressed through improved validation. This issue is fixed in Security Update 2021-005 Catalina, iOS 12.5.5, iOS 14.8 and iPadOS 14.8, macOS Big Sur 11.6, watchOS 7.6.2. A sandboxed process may be able to circumvent sandbox restrictions. Apple was aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited at the time of release..

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
Apple	macOS	unspecified
Apple	macOS	unspecified
Apple	watchOS	unspecified
Apple	watchOS	unspecified
Apple	watchOS	unspecified

03Active exploitation status

Yes — actively exploited. Added to the CISA KEV catalog on 2022-08-25. Ransomware use: Unknown.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection in your stack of choice:

Open in Sigma generator →

07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2021-08-24T18:51:48.000Z
• Last modified: 2025-10-21T23:25:36.283Z
• Added to CISA KEV: 2022-08-25
• BOD 22-01 due: 2022-09-15

09References

• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212804
• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212805
• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212807
• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212806
• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212824