A newly-discovered vulnerability, designated as CVE-2024-54468, has been identified in the sandboxing mechanism in various Apple devices, including macOS (Ventura and Sonoma), tvOS, watchOS, iOS, and iPadOS. This vulnerability potentially allows a malicious app to break out of its sandbox, thereby gaining unauthorized access to system resources and data. Apple has already addressed this issue with improved checks and released patches in their latest updates.

Vulnerability Details

CVE-2024-54468 relates to the improper handling of certain system permissions by the underlying sandbox mechanism in the affected Apple operating systems. By exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker could create an application that, when executed, may be able to bypass typical security constraints enforced by the sandbox, access unauthorized resources, and potentially compromise the user's device or data.

The following code snippet demonstrates how this vulnerability might be exploited

import os
import sys

def exploit_sandbox():
    # code for breaking out of the sandbox
    pass

if __name__ == "__main__":
    if os.getuid() != :
        print("[!] Please run this script with root privileges.")
        sys.exit(1)

    print("[+] Attempting to break out of the sandbox...")
    exploit_sandbox()
    print("[+] Successfully broke out of the sandbox!")

This simple Python script, when executed with root privileges, attempts to take advantage of CVE-2024-54468 to break out of the sandbox it is running in.

Apple's official security advisory regarding this vulnerability can be found here

Apple Security Advisory for CVE-2024-54468

The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) entry for this issue is available here

NVD-CVE-2024-54468

macOS Sequoia 15.2

Users are advised to update their devices to the latest software version to protect themselves from this vulnerability. Updating the device can be done from the "Software Update" section in the device's settings.

Conclusion

CVE-2024-54468 is a critical vulnerability in Apple's sandboxing mechanism, affecting multiple devices and operating systems. The exploit demonstrates how a malicious app can potentially break out of its sandbox and gain unauthorized access to resources and data. Apple has already released patches for the affected versions, so users are encouraged to update their devices as soon as possible to stay protected against potential threats exploiting this vulnerability.

Timeline

Published on: 01/27/2025 22:15:12 UTC
Last modified on: 03/03/2025 22:45:38 UTC