CVE-2026-112533 in macOS
Summary
by MITRE • 10/26/2026
An authorization issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in macOS Golden Gate 27.2, macOS Sequoia 15.8.2, macOS Tahoe 26.7.2. An app may be able to access sensitive user data.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/26/2026
The vulnerability described constitutes a critical authorization flaw rooted in inadequate state management within the operating system's application execution environment. In complex software architectures, particularly those involving sandboxed applications and privileged services, maintaining strict consistency between an application's declared permissions and its actual runtime capabilities is essential for security. When state management mechanisms fail to properly track or enforce these boundaries during transitions between different operational states, such as when switching contexts or handling asynchronous events, the system may inadvertently grant elevated access privileges that were not explicitly authorized by the user or defined in the app's entitlements manifest. This breakdown allows an application to bypass intended restrictions and interact with resources it should be denied access to, effectively undermining the principle of least privilege that underpins modern operating system security models.
From a technical perspective, this issue likely involves race conditions or logic errors where the state tracking mechanism does not correctly validate permissions before allowing data retrieval operations. For instance, an application might initiate a request for sensitive user data while holding temporary elevated privileges due to a background process or service interaction. If the state management system fails to revoke these privileges immediately upon context switch or if it incorrectly assumes that previous authorization checks remain valid across different execution threads, the application can exploit this window of opportunity to access protected files, keychain items, or private user information. This type of flaw is particularly dangerous because it does not require traditional exploitation techniques like buffer overflows but rather relies on manipulating the logical flow and state transitions within the OS kernel or security framework services.
The operational impact of such a vulnerability is severe, as it directly compromises user privacy and data integrity. Sensitive user data often includes personally identifiable information, financial records, health data, or private communications stored in protected directories like the macOS Keychain or sandboxed container files. Unauthorized access to this data can lead to identity theft, financial fraud, or blackmail if the information is exfiltrated by malicious actors. Furthermore, because the vulnerability stems from a core system component rather than a third-party application bug, it affects all software running on the affected versions of macOS, including legitimate applications that may inadvertently trigger the flawed state logic during normal operation. This creates a broad attack surface where any app with minimal initial permissions could potentially escalate its access to read arbitrary user data without triggering standard security alerts or requiring explicit user consent for each specific action.
This vulnerability aligns closely with CWE-269, which describes Improper Privilege Management, specifically the failure to enforce proper authorization checks during state transitions. It also relates to CWE-862, Missing Authorization, where access control decisions are not enforced in a critical code path. In terms of adversary tactics, this flaw facilitates techniques associated with MITRE ATT&CK ID T1059, Command and Scripting Interpreter, or more specifically T1005, Data from Local System, as it enables the unauthorized collection of data residing on local storage without direct user interaction. The ability to access sensitive data through state manipulation is a common precursor for further exploitation stages where attackers establish persistence or move laterally within a compromised environment by leveraging stolen credentials or personal information obtained through this initial breach.
Mitigation strategies primarily involve applying the provided software updates, which include macOS Golden Gate 27.2, macOS Sequoia 15.8.2, and macOS Tahoe 26.7.2. These patches address the underlying state management logic to ensure that authorization checks are consistently enforced regardless of the application's current operational context or thread state. Administrators should prioritize deploying these updates across all managed devices to close this gap in system security. Additionally, developers should review their applications for any reliance on implicit trust in OS-level permission states and instead implement explicit verification steps before accessing sensitive resources. Implementing defense-in-depth measures such as strict sandboxing policies and monitoring for unusual data access patterns can also help detect potential exploitation attempts while the broader ecosystem transitions to patched versions of the operating system.