CVE-2020-9901 Path traversal in iOS
A local attacker can exploit symlink path validation flaws to elevate privileges on Apple operating systems.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2020-9901?
CVE-2020-9901 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Apple Ipados, published on 22 Oct 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
An issue existed within the path validation logic for symlinks. This issue was addressed with improved path sanitization. This issue is fixed in iOS 13.6 and iPadOS 13.6, macOS Catalina 10.15.6, tvOS 13.4.8. A local attacker may be able to elevate their privileges.
Weakness: CWE-59
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-9901?
It affects 4 products.
Products include Apple Ipados, Apple Iphone Os, Apple Mac Os X, Apple Tvos.
How do I fix CVE-2020-9901?
No fix has been published for CVE-2020-9901 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2020-9901 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-9901 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Apple Ipados
- CVE-2025-43300 Apple iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Out-of-Bounds Write
- CVE-2025-24201 Apple Multiple Products WebKit Out-of-Bounds Write
- CVE-2025-24085 Apple Multiple Products Use-After-Free
- CVE-2025-31200 Apple Multiple Products Memory Corruption
- CVE-2025-31201 Apple Multiple Products Arbitrary Read and Write
Sources
Also known as GHSA-9gqx-hpg2-mppr.