# CVE-2019-8772: Information disclosure in macOS

> An attacker can exfiltrate contents of encrypted PDFs due to improper link handling in macOS, requiring an upgrade to Catalina.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 Dec 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mhr9-83m9-mfgj

## What is CVE-2019-8772?

CVE-2019-8772 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple Mac Os X, published on 18 Dec 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue existed in the handling of links in encrypted PDFs. This issue was addressed by adding a confirmation prompt. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15. An attacker may be able to exfiltrate the contents of an encrypted PDF.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-8772?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Apple Mac Os X.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-8772?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-8772 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-8772 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-8772 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Mac Os X

- [CVE-2014-7169](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-7169/): GNU Bourne-Again Shell (Bash) Arbitrary Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2014-6271](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-6271/): GNU Bourne-Again Shell (Bash) Arbitrary Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2012-1823](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1823/): PHP-CGI Query String Parameter (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-30713](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-30713/): Apple macOS Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-8526](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8526/): Apple macOS Use-After-Free (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-8772 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-8772 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple Mac Os X, published on 18 Dec 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-8772 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apple Mac Os X. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8772/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8772/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-8772
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-8772
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-8772

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8772/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.