Description

A path handling issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7. An app may be able to gain root privileges.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-14T21:17:08.443Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-14T21:17:08.443Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A critical path handling vulnerability exists within the macOS operating system, potentially allowing a malicious application to escalate privileges to the root user.\nThe vulnerability originates from insufficient validation of filesystem paths, which can be leveraged to bypass security controls or manipulate system-level operations.\nAffected products include macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, and macOS Tahoe 26.7.\nSuccessful exploitation grants an attacker full system privileges (root), facilitating unrestricted access to sensitive data, system configuration modification, and complete host compromise.\nThe vulnerability requires the execution of a malicious application on the target system. No network exposure or authentication is explicitly required if the attacker can influence local file operations or symbolic link targets.\nThis represents a severe security risk, as the integrity and confidentiality of the entire operating system can be compromised once the attacker achieves root context.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability is classified as a path handling issue caused by inadequate input validation when resolving or processing file paths. Insecure path handling often involves susceptibility to Time-of-Check Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) race conditions, symbolic link traversal, or improper sanitation of user-supplied path strings before they are utilized by privileged system APIs.\nIn the context of macOS architecture, system-level components often run with elevated privileges (root). If these components fail to properly validate the source or destination of file I/O operations, an unprivileged application can provide crafted paths—such as those containing directory traversal sequences or symlinks—to trick privileged processes into reading from or writing to sensitive system files.\nThe attack flow typically begins with an unprivileged local application identifying a privileged process that interacts with the filesystem using unsanitized inputs. The attacker may replace a legitimate file or directory with a symbolic link pointing to a critical system file (e.g., /etc/passwd or a system binary). When the vulnerable privileged process executes, it follows the attacker-controlled path, resulting in the unintentional modification of system security parameters or the injection of malicious code into a persistent system process.\nBy manipulating the environment in which the privileged process operates, the attacker effectively coerces the system to perform operations on their behalf. This escalation is achieved because the kernel or the service performs the operation with root credentials, bypassing standard sandbox restrictions and user-space permission checks.\nThe remediation involves implementing strict path validation routines, utilizing atomic filesystem operations, and ensuring that privileged processes employ canonicalization functions to resolve real paths before interacting with the filesystem. By verifying that the resolved path resides within an expected, restricted directory, the system prevents the transition into unauthorized locations.\nAffected versions identified are macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, and macOS Tahoe 26.7. Future exploitation is mitigated by the application of the vendor-supplied patches, which introduce improved validation logic within the affected system services, ensuring that path resolution is resistant to manipulation by local, unprivileged entities."
}