VulnerabilityPublished 16 Sep 2024Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2024-44135: Apple macOS · An app may be able to access protected files within an App Sandbox container

Affects Apple macOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 11% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

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

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

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).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
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.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 16 Sep 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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apple macOS	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Immediately update all affected macOS systems to macOS Sequoia 15 or macOS Sonoma 14.7 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed.
Review and restrict app permissions and sandbox entitlements to the minimum necessary, reducing the attack surface for malicious or compromised apps.
Implement strict application whitelisting and monitoring to detect unauthorized or suspicious app behavior that attempts to access protected files.
Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of monitoring file access patterns within sandbox containers to identify potential exploitation attempts.
Conduct regular audits of sandbox configurations and file permissions to ensure no inadvertent over-permissioning exists.
Educate users about the risks of installing untrusted applications, as local access is required for exploitation.
For organizations with sensitive data, consider additional data encryption within sandbox containers to limit exposure even if file access controls are bypassed.
Maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans to quickly respond if exploitation is suspected.

Description

A permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15, macOS Sonoma 14.7. An app may be able to access protected files within an App Sandbox container.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-44135 is the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information within the App Sandbox container on affected macOS systems. Since the vulnerability allows an app with low privileges to access protected files, confidential data stored within sandboxed environments may be exposed. This can lead to privacy violations, leakage of intellectual property, or exposure of user credentials and other sensitive information. The vulnerability does not affect data integrity or system availability, limiting its impact to confidentiality breaches. Organizations that rely on macOS for sensitive operations, including software development, finance, healthcare, and government sectors, may face increased risk of data leakage if unpatched. The requirement for local access and low privileges means that attackers must already have some foothold on the system, but once present, they can escalate their data access capabilities. Although no exploits are known in the wild, the medium severity rating and potential for data exposure necessitate timely remediation to prevent future exploitation. The vulnerability could also undermine trust in sandboxing as a security boundary on macOS systems.

CWE-276Incorrect Default Permissions (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
During installation, installed file permissions are set to allow anyone to modify those files.
Architecture and Design · Operation
The architecture needs to access and modification attributes for files to only those users who actually require those actions.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Access Control (opens in a new tab)
Authorization Testing Automation (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs (opens in a new tab)
Directory Indexing (opens in a new tab)
Web Server Logs Tampering (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

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 2 Apr 2026, 23:44 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-276

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats