CVE-2025-24093 in macOS
Summary
by MITRE • 01/28/2025
A permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.4, macOS Sonoma 14.7.3, macOS Ventura 13.7.3. An app may be able to access removable volumes without user consent.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/08/2026
This vulnerability represents a significant permissions flaw in apple's macOS operating system that allows applications to access removable storage volumes without proper user consent or explicit authorization. The issue stems from insufficient access controls that fail to properly enforce the principle of least privilege for external storage devices. According to apple's security advisory, this weakness affects multiple versions of the operating system including macOS Sequoia 15.4, macOS Sonoma 14.7.3, and macOS Ventura 13.7.3, indicating a widespread impact across the platform's ecosystem. The vulnerability falls under the category of improper access control as defined by cwe-284, where applications can bypass expected security boundaries to access resources they should not be permitted to reach. This type of flaw directly contravenes the security principle that applications should not have unrestricted access to user data or storage devices without explicit user permission.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability likely involves a flaw in the operating system's volume mounting or access control mechanisms that fail to properly validate application permissions when accessing removable media. When users connect external storage devices such as usb drives, external hard drives, or memory cards, the system should enforce strict permission checks to ensure that only authorized applications can access the data. However, this flaw allows malicious or poorly designed applications to circumvent these checks and gain unauthorized access to the contents of removable volumes. The impact extends beyond simple data access as it potentially enables data exfiltration, malware persistence, or unauthorized modification of external storage content. This vulnerability specifically aligns with attack techniques documented in the attack pattern taxonomy under access control bypass methods where adversaries exploit insufficient validation of user permissions to gain elevated access to restricted resources.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial for both individual users and enterprise environments where data security is paramount. Users may unknowingly expose sensitive data stored on removable volumes to applications that should not have access to such information, creating potential privacy breaches and data loss scenarios. In enterprise settings, this vulnerability could allow malicious applications to access confidential business data stored on external drives, USB devices, or network-attached storage systems that are connected to company computers. Organizations that rely on strict data governance policies may find their security posture weakened by this flaw, as it undermines the expected isolation between applications and user data. The vulnerability also increases the attack surface for potential exploitation by threat actors who could develop malware specifically designed to leverage this access control bypass to harvest sensitive information from connected removable storage devices.
The remediation for this vulnerability requires users to update their operating systems to the patched versions mentioned in apple's security advisory, specifically macOS Sequoia 15.4, macOS Sonoma 14.7.3, and macOS Ventura 13.7.3. System administrators should prioritize patch deployment across all affected systems to ensure comprehensive protection against exploitation. Organizations should also consider implementing additional monitoring for unauthorized access attempts to removable storage devices and review their existing security policies to account for this potential attack vector. The fix likely involves strengthening the access control mechanisms that govern how applications interact with external storage devices, ensuring that proper user consent is obtained before allowing access to removable volumes. Security teams should also conduct vulnerability assessments to identify any applications that may have been exploiting this flaw and implement enhanced application whitelisting or sandboxing measures to prevent unauthorized access to external storage devices. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and the potential risks associated with outdated operating system versions that may contain unaddressed access control weaknesses.