VulnerabilityPublished 28 Oct 2024Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2024-44156: Apple macOS · Missing Authorization

Affects Apple macOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.1 High · fixed in 15.1 : patch Apple macOS soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.1High

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 14% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 15.1

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
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: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to 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 28 Oct 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

To mitigate CVE-2024-44156, organizations and users should immediately apply the security updates provided by Apple in macOS Sequoia 15.1, Sonoma 14.7.1, and Ventura 13.7.1 or later. Beyond patching, organizations should implement strict application control policies to limit the execution of untrusted or unsigned applications, reducing the risk of local malicious code execution. Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of monitoring for suspicious local privilege escalation attempts or unauthorized access to privacy-protected resources. Regularly audit and restrict user privileges to the minimum necessary, preventing attackers from easily gaining the low privileges required for exploitation. Enable macOS built-in security features such as System Integrity Protection (SIP) and Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) to enforce privacy protections robustly. Conduct user awareness training to recognize and avoid installing potentially malicious software. For high-security environments, consider network segmentation and monitoring to detect lateral movement attempts that might follow exploitation. Finally, maintain an up-to-date inventory of macOS devices and ensure timely patch management processes are in place to rapidly address vulnerabilities.

Description

A path deletion vulnerability was addressed by preventing vulnerable code from running with privileges. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.1, macOS Sonoma 14.7.1, macOS Ventura 13.7.1. An app may be able to bypass Privacy preferences.

Impact

The potential impact of CVE-2024-44156 is significant for organizations and individual users relying on macOS systems. By bypassing Privacy preferences, malicious applications or attackers with local access can gain unauthorized access to sensitive user data, such as contacts, calendars, location data, or other protected resources. This breach of confidentiality can lead to data leakage, privacy violations, and potential exposure of personally identifiable information (PII). The integrity of user data and system configurations may also be compromised if unauthorized modifications are made. Although availability is not impacted, the loss of confidentiality and integrity can undermine trust in macOS security and lead to compliance issues, especially for organizations subject to data protection regulations. The requirement for local access and low privileges means that attackers must already have some foothold on the system, but the lack of user interaction needed makes exploitation more feasible in automated or stealthy attack scenarios. Enterprises with macOS endpoints, especially in sectors like finance, healthcare, and government, face increased risk if systems remain unpatched. Additionally, the vulnerability could be leveraged as part of a multi-stage attack chain to escalate privileges or move laterally within a network.

CWE-862Missing Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #4OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
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)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Exploitation of Thunderbolt Protection Flaws (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 2 Apr 2026, 23:48 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-862

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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