VulnerabilityPublished 6 Jul 2024Updated 4 Nov 2024

CVE-2024-40594: OpenAI ChatGPT app · Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 2.3 Low.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

2.3Low

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 3% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AC:L/AV:L/A:N/C:L/I:N/PR:H/S:U/UI:N

Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Vector: Local
Availability: None
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
Privileges Required: High
Scope: Unchanged
User Interaction: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 6 Jul 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, users and organizations should update the OpenAI ChatGPT macOS app to a version released after July 5, 2024, where this issue is resolved. Until an update is available, organizations should enforce strict local access controls on macOS devices running ChatGPT, including limiting administrative privileges and restricting installation of untrusted applications that could access the stored conversation files. Employing full disk encryption and enabling macOS FileVault can reduce the risk of offline data exposure. Additionally, monitoring and auditing local application permissions and sandboxing policies can help detect and prevent unauthorized access. Developers should avoid opting out of sandboxing unless absolutely necessary and ensure sensitive data is encrypted at rest. Users should also be cautious about sharing devices and ensure that only trusted users have access to systems running the vulnerable app.

Description

The OpenAI ChatGPT app before 2024-07-05 for macOS opts out of the sandbox, and stores conversations in cleartext in a location accessible to other apps.

Impact

The primary impact of this vulnerability is the potential unauthorized disclosure of sensitive user conversations stored by the ChatGPT macOS app. Organizations using this app on macOS devices risk exposure of confidential or proprietary information if other applications or users on the same device can access the stored cleartext data. This could lead to privacy violations, leakage of intellectual property, or exposure of sensitive personal or business information. However, the impact is limited by the requirement that an attacker must have high privilege local access to the device, which reduces the likelihood of widespread exploitation. There is no impact on data integrity or system availability, and remote exploitation is not possible. Still, in environments where multiple users share devices or where malware with elevated privileges is present, this vulnerability could facilitate data leakage.

CWE-312Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product stores sensitive information in cleartext within a resource that might be accessible to another control sphere.
Implementation · System Configuration · Operation
When storing data in the cloud (e.g., S3 buckets, Azure blobs, Google Cloud Storage, etc.), use the provider's controls to encrypt the data at rest.
Implementation · System Configuration · Operation
In some systems/environments such as cloud, the use of "double encryption" (at both the software and hardware layer) might be required, and the developer might be solely responsible for both layers, instead of shared responsibility with the administrator of the broader system/environment.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.1.6 (opens in a new tab)
V8.2.3 (opens in a new tab)
V8.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Feb 2026, 06:50 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-312

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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