CVE-2015-3757 in Mac OS X
Summary
by MITRE
Apple OS X before 10.10.5 does not properly restrict access to the Date & Time preferences pane, which allows local users to spoof the time by visiting this pane.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/02/2025
The vulnerability described in CVE-2015-3757 represents a significant access control flaw in Apple's macOS operating system affecting versions prior to 10.10.5. This issue resides within the system's preference pane management mechanism, specifically the Date & Time preferences interface that controls system time settings. The flaw allows unauthorized local users to manipulate system time through a seemingly innocuous interaction with the graphical user interface, bypassing normal security restrictions that should prevent such modifications. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because time manipulation can have cascading effects on system security, authentication mechanisms, and cryptographic operations that depend on accurate timekeeping.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient privilege validation within the Date & Time preference pane component. When a local user accesses this interface, the system fails to properly verify whether the requesting process has adequate permissions to modify system time settings. This represents a classic case of inadequate access control enforcement, where the user interface component does not perform proper authorization checks before allowing time modification operations. The flaw operates at the application level within the system preferences framework, making it accessible through normal user interaction rather than requiring elevated privileges or specialized exploitation techniques.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-3757 extends beyond simple time manipulation and can severely compromise system security and integrity. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to spoof system time, which can disrupt time-based security mechanisms such as certificate validation, authentication tokens, and cryptographic timestamping services. When system time is manipulated, digital certificates may appear expired or invalid, causing authentication failures and potentially enabling certificate forgery attacks. Additionally, many security protocols rely on accurate time synchronization to function correctly, and time spoofing can undermine the effectiveness of intrusion detection systems, audit trails, and security logging mechanisms. This vulnerability can also facilitate other attacks such as replay attacks, where attackers use manipulated time to bypass time-sensitive security controls.
Organizations and system administrators should implement immediate mitigations to address this vulnerability by upgrading affected macOS systems to version 10.10.5 or later, where Apple has patched the access control flaw in the Date & Time preferences pane. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive system inventory to identify all affected devices and ensure timely deployment of security patches. Network monitoring solutions should be enhanced to detect unusual time synchronization patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. System administrators should also review and strengthen access control policies, ensuring that only authorized personnel have access to system preferences that can modify critical system parameters. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which describes improper access control issues, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1070.006 for Indicator Removal on Host, as time manipulation can be used to cover malicious activities by altering system timestamps. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly minor UI access control issues can have significant security implications, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive security testing and validation of all system components, particularly those with privileged access capabilities.