CVE-2019-8513

HIGH

Mac OS X TimeMachine (tmdiagnose) Command Injection Privilege Escalation

Title source: metasploit
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 2 public exploits for CVE-2019-8513. PoCs published by Metasploit, CodeColorist, timwr, including Metasploit module exploits/osx/local/timemachine_cmd_injection.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This Metasploit module exploits a command injection vulnerability in the `tmdiagnose` binary on macOS <= 10.14.3, allowing privilege escalation to root by crafting a malicious disk label. The exploit uploads and executes a payload via a specially crafted volume label.

Description

This issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in macOS Mojave 10.14.4. A local user may be able to execute arbitrary shell commands.

Exploits (2)

exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by Metasploit · rubylocalmacos
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/47070

This Metasploit module exploits a command injection vulnerability in the `tmdiagnose` binary on macOS <= 10.14.3, allowing privilege escalation to root by crafting a malicious disk label. The exploit uploads and executes a payload via a specially crafted volume label.

Classification
Working Poc 100%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: macOS TimeMachine (tmdiagnose) <= 10.14.3
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Write access to a directory (default: /tmp) · Non-root session on macOS <= 10.14.3
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
metasploit WORKING POC EXCELLENT
by CodeColorist, timwr · rubypoc
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/osx/local/timemachine_cmd_injection.rb

This Metasploit module exploits a command injection vulnerability in the `tmdiagnose` binary on macOS <= 10.14.3. It leverages a specially crafted disk label with backtick characters to execute arbitrary commands as root.

Classification
Working Poc 100%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: macOS TimeMachine (tmdiagnose) <= 10.14.3
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Non-root access to a vulnerable macOS system · Writable directory (default: /tmp)
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

References (1)

Core 1
Core References
Vendor Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://support.apple.com/HT209600

Scores

CVSS v3 7.8
EPSS 0.0935
EPSS Percentile 93.0%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-78
Status published
Products (1)
apple/mac_os_x < 10.14.4
Published Dec 18, 2019
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026