# CVE-2020-13524: Memory corruption in Pixar

> An attacker can execute arbitrary code by tricking a user into opening a malformed USD file in Pixar OpenUSD.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 3 Dec 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8f9r-9957-fj34

## What is CVE-2020-13524?

CVE-2020-13524 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Apple Mac Os X, published on 3 Dec 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

An out-of-bounds memory corruption vulnerability exists in the way Pixar OpenUSD 20.05 uses SPECS data from binary USD files. A specially crafted malformed file can trigger an out-of-bounds memory access and modification which results in memory corruption. To trigger this vulnerability, the victim needs to access an attacker-provided malformed file.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-13524?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Apple Mac Os X, Apple Macos, Pixar Openusd.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-13524?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-13524 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-13524 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-13524 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-2020-13524 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-13524 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Apple Mac Os X, published on 3 Dec 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-13524 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-2020-13524/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-13524/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-13524
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-13524
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-13524

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-13524/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.