CVE-2026-84569 in macOS
Summary
by MITRE • 09/15/2026
An access issue was addressed with additional sandbox restrictions on the system pasteboards. This issue is fixed in macOS Golden Gate 27. An app may be able to access sensitive user data.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/15/2026
The vulnerability described involves a flaw in how macOS manages access control for system pasteboards, specifically within the context of application sandboxes. In operating systems like macOS, sandboxing is a critical security mechanism designed to restrict applications from accessing resources outside their designated environment unless explicitly permitted by the user or system policies. The pasteboard serves as an inter-application communication channel that allows data such as text and images to be copied and pasted between different programs. Historically, this functionality has been a vector for information leakage if access controls are not strictly enforced. In this specific instance, prior to the fix in macOS Golden Gate 27, certain applications were able to bypass intended sandbox restrictions to read sensitive data from the system pasteboard that they should not have had permission to access. This represents a failure in the enforcement of isolation boundaries between processes, allowing an unprivileged or restricted application to exfiltrate user information without proper authorization.
From a technical perspective, this issue aligns with CWE-200, which categorizes exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor. The flaw likely stems from insufficient checks within the pasteboard service when determining whether a requesting process has the necessary entitlements or permissions to read specific clipboard contents. When an application attempts to access data on the pasteboard, the operating system must verify that the app is part of the same security domain as the source of the data or possesses explicit user-granted consent. The absence of these rigorous checks allowed malicious or compromised applications to intercept sensitive content such as passwords, personal identification numbers, financial details, or private communications simply by querying the pasteboard buffer. This type of vulnerability exploits the trust model inherent in desktop environments where users frequently copy and paste information across various contexts, assuming that their data remains isolated from other running processes unless they intentionally share it.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for end-users who rely on macOS for handling sensitive personal or professional data. An attacker with access to a vulnerable system could deploy a malicious application designed specifically to monitor the pasteboard in real-time. By doing so, the attacker can capture clipboard contents as users copy and paste information, leading to potential credential theft, identity fraud, or corporate espionage depending on the nature of the copied data. This risk is exacerbated by the fact that many security tools may not detect such activity because it mimics legitimate application behavior under normal circumstances. The lack of immediate user notification when sensitive data is accessed further compounds the threat, as users remain unaware that their clipboard contents are being harvested in the background.
To mitigate this risk, Apple addressed the issue through enhanced sandbox restrictions in macOS Golden Gate 27. These updates likely involve stricter validation logic within the pasteboard service to ensure that only applications with explicit permissions can access specific types of data on the system pasteboards. Users should immediately update their systems to the latest version available to benefit from these security patches. Additionally, users are advised to exercise caution when installing third-party applications and to review permission requests carefully, particularly those related to accessibility or clipboard monitoring features. Security professionals managing enterprise environments should ensure that endpoint detection and response solutions are configured to monitor for unusual pasteboard access patterns and enforce application whitelisting where possible to minimize the attack surface associated with such vulnerabilities.