CVE-2024-44250: macOS Sequoia Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2024-44250 Overview

CVE-2024-44250 is a permissions vulnerability affecting macOS Sequoia that allows a malicious application to escape its sandbox or execute code with elevated privileges. The vulnerability stems from improper permission management (CWE-269 - Improper Privilege Management) within the operating system, enabling attackers with local access to bypass critical security boundaries designed to contain application behavior.

Critical Impact

An app may be able to execute arbitrary code out of its sandbox or with certain elevated privileges, potentially compromising system integrity and data confidentiality.

Affected Products

• macOS Sequoia versions prior to 15.1

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-02 - CVE CVE-2024-44250 published to NVD
• 2026-04-02 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-44250

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a significant security concern for macOS users as it undermines the fundamental sandbox protection mechanism that Apple relies on to isolate applications from each other and from critical system resources. The sandbox architecture in macOS is designed to limit the damage that a compromised or malicious application can cause by restricting its access to system resources, user data, and other applications.

The permissions issue at the core of CVE-2024-44250 allows an attacker-controlled application to break out of these confinement boundaries. When successfully exploited, the application gains capabilities beyond what its entitlements and sandbox profile permit, potentially accessing sensitive user data, modifying system configurations, or interacting with privileged system services.

The local attack vector requires the attacker to have already achieved code execution on the target system, typically through social engineering, a malicious download, or another vulnerability. However, once local access is obtained, the exploitation path has low complexity and requires no user interaction to complete.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in improper privilege management (CWE-269) within macOS Sequoia. Specifically, insufficient restrictions were in place to properly validate and enforce permission boundaries for sandboxed applications. This gap in the permission enforcement mechanism allowed applications to access resources or perform actions that should have been blocked by the sandbox profile.

Attack Vector

This vulnerability requires local access to the target macOS system. An attacker would need to deliver a malicious application to the victim's machine, which could be accomplished through:

• Malicious email attachments disguised as legitimate applications
• Compromised software downloads from unofficial sources
• Supply chain attacks targeting legitimate software distribution channels
• Exploitation of another vulnerability to gain initial code execution

Once the malicious application is running on the system, it can exploit the permissions flaw to escape its sandbox confinement without requiring any additional user interaction. The attacker-controlled code would then operate with elevated privileges, potentially affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of system resources beyond the application's intended scope.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-44250

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected application behavior accessing files or directories outside normal sandbox boundaries
• System log entries indicating permission violations or unusual entitlement requests
• Applications spawning processes with elevated privileges unexpectedly
• Anomalous network connections from sandboxed applications that should not have network access

Detection Strategies

• Monitor macOS Unified Logs for sandbox violation attempts or unusual entitlement escalations
• Deploy endpoint detection tools capable of identifying suspicious process hierarchy changes
• Implement file integrity monitoring for sensitive system directories
• Analyze application behavior for attempts to access resources outside declared entitlements

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging for sandbox-related events in macOS System Log
• Review Console.app for sandbox violation messages associated with suspicious applications
• Monitor for applications attempting to read or write to protected system paths
• Track process creation events to identify unexpected child processes from sandboxed apps

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-44250

Immediate Actions Required

• Update macOS Sequoia to version 15.1 or later immediately
• Review installed applications and remove any untrusted or unknown software
• Enable Gatekeeper and ensure only notarized applications can run
• Verify system integrity using macOS built-in security features

Patch Information

Apple has addressed this vulnerability in macOS Sequoia 15.1 by implementing additional restrictions to properly enforce permission boundaries for sandboxed applications. Users should apply this update as soon as possible through System Settings > General > Software Update. For enterprise environments, administrators can deploy the update through MDM solutions.

For additional details, refer to the Apple Support Article.

Workarounds

• Limit installation of applications to those from the Mac App Store or identified developers
• Enable macOS Lockdown Mode for high-risk users who may be targeted
• Implement application allowlisting through MDM policies in enterprise environments
• Regularly audit installed applications and their permission profiles