CVE-2023-38586 is a critical vulnerability affecting Apple macOS, specifically related to the sandboxing mechanism. Sandboxing is a security feature designed to isolate processes and limit their access to system resources, thereby reducing the potential impact of malicious or compromised applications. This vulnerability allows a sandboxed process to circumvent these sandbox restrictions, effectively breaking out of its confined environment. The issue stems from an access control flaw that was addressed with additional sandbox restrictions in macOS Sonoma 14. Prior to this fix, a malicious or compromised sandboxed process could exploit this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to system resources, escalate privileges, and potentially execute arbitrary code with higher privileges. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 10.0, indicating a critical severity level. The vector string (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H) reveals that the vulnerability is remotely exploitable over the network without requiring any privileges or user interaction, affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability at a high level, and has a scope change, meaning the impact extends beyond the initially vulnerable component. Although no known exploits in the wild have been reported yet, the severity and ease of exploitation make this a significant threat. The vulnerability affects unspecified versions of macOS prior to the release of macOS Sonoma 14, where the fix was implemented. This vulnerability could be leveraged by attackers to bypass sandbox protections, which are critical for containing potentially harmful processes, thereby increasing the risk of system compromise, data theft, or disruption of services.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a substantial risk, especially those relying on macOS systems for critical operations, development, or endpoint usage. The ability to bypass sandbox restrictions can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, intellectual property theft, and the potential deployment of malware or ransomware with elevated privileges. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, government, and technology, which often use macOS devices, could face significant confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts. The critical nature of the vulnerability means that attackers could remotely exploit it without user interaction or prior authentication, increasing the likelihood of widespread exploitation if weaponized. This could result in data breaches, operational disruptions, and reputational damage. Furthermore, the scope change indicates that the compromise could extend beyond the sandboxed process to affect other system components, amplifying the potential damage. Given the interconnected nature of European IT environments and regulatory requirements such as GDPR, exploitation of this vulnerability could also lead to regulatory penalties and compliance issues.

European organizations should prioritize updating all macOS devices to macOS Sonoma 14 or later, where the vulnerability has been addressed with enhanced sandbox restrictions. In addition to patching, organizations should implement strict application control policies to limit the execution of untrusted or unnecessary applications within sandboxed environments. Employing endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions that monitor for anomalous behavior indicative of sandbox escape attempts can provide early detection and response capabilities. Network segmentation should be used to isolate macOS systems handling sensitive data, reducing the blast radius in case of compromise. Organizations should also review and tighten sandbox profiles and permissions to minimize the attack surface. Regular security awareness training should emphasize the risks associated with running untrusted software. Finally, maintaining up-to-date backups and incident response plans tailored to macOS environments will help mitigate the impact of potential exploitation.