CVE-2026-28978: A malicious app may be able to break out of its sandbox in Apple macOS
A permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.7.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8.7, macOS Tahoe 26.5. A malicious app may be able to break out of its sandbox.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability (CVE-2026-28978) in Apple macOS involves a permissions issue that may allow a malicious app to break out of its sandbox, potentially leading to full system compromise. The issue is fixed in recent macOS versions Sequoia 15.7.7, Sonoma 14.8.7, and Tahoe 26.5 by applying additional restrictions to the sandbox environment. The CVSS score of 8.8 reflects a high impact with local attack vector, low attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and complete impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation allows a malicious application to escape the sandbox, potentially gaining unauthorized access to system resources and sensitive data, and causing high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.
Mitigation Recommendations
A fix is available and included in macOS Sequoia 15.7.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8.7, and macOS Tahoe 26.5. Users and administrators should update to these or later versions to remediate the vulnerability. Patch status is confirmed by the vendor advisory indicating the issue is fixed in these releases.
CVE-2026-28978: A malicious app may be able to break out of its sandbox in Apple macOS
Description
A permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.7.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8.7, macOS Tahoe 26.5. A malicious app may be able to break out of its sandbox.
CVSS v3.1
Score 8.8high
Affected software
Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability (CVE-2026-28978) in Apple macOS involves a permissions issue that may allow a malicious app to break out of its sandbox, potentially leading to full system compromise. The issue is fixed in recent macOS versions Sequoia 15.7.7, Sonoma 14.8.7, and Tahoe 26.5 by applying additional restrictions to the sandbox environment. The CVSS score of 8.8 reflects a high impact with local attack vector, low attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and complete impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation allows a malicious application to escape the sandbox, potentially gaining unauthorized access to system resources and sensitive data, and causing high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.
Mitigation Recommendations
A fix is available and included in macOS Sequoia 15.7.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8.7, and macOS Tahoe 26.5. Users and administrators should update to these or later versions to remediate the vulnerability. Patch status is confirmed by the vendor advisory indicating the issue is fixed in these releases.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- apple
- Date Reserved
- 2026-03-03T16:36:03.993Z
- Cvss Version
- null
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
Threat ID: 6a028760cbff5d86108b672c
Added to database: 05/12/2026, 01:50:24 UTC
Last enriched: 05/19/2026, 09:41:13 UTC
Last updated: 07/31/2026, 19:22:58 UTC
Views: 120
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