CVE-2014-4434

Vulnerability

The kernel in Apple OS X versions prior to 10.10 (Yosemite) contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the handling of HFS filesystem filenames. A crafted filename can trigger this condition, leading to a system crash. The issue affects all versions before 10.10.

Exploitation

An attacker must have physical proximity to the target system and the ability to present a specially crafted filename on an HFS filesystem (e.g., via a USB drive or other removable media). No authentication is required; the attacker simply needs to cause the system to process the malicious filename, for example by mounting the filesystem or browsing to the file.

Impact

Successful exploitation results in a denial of service (DoS) due to a NULL pointer dereference, causing the kernel to panic and the system to crash. The attacker gains no code execution or data access; the impact is limited to temporary system unavailability.

Mitigation

Apple addressed this issue in OS X Yosemite v10.10, released on October 16, 2014. Users should update to OS X 10.10 or later. No workaround is available for earlier versions. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. [1]