CVE-2023-27960 – CVE-2023-27960 is a privilege escalation vulner... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-27960?

CVE-2023-27960 has a CVSS score of 7.8 (HIGH). CVE-2023-27960 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in GarageBand for macOS that allows an application to gain elevated privileges during installation. This affects macOS users who install or have installed GarageBand versions before 10.4.8. The vulnerability was fixed by Apple removing the vulnerable code.

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2023-27960 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in GarageBand for macOS that allows an application to gain elevated privileges during installation. This affects macOS users who install or have installed GarageBand versions before 10.4.8. The vulnerability was fixed by Apple removing the vulnerable code.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

GarageBand

Versions: Versions before 10.4.8

Operating Systems: macOS

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Only affects macOS systems with GarageBand installed or being installed. The vulnerability is triggered during the installation process.

📦 What is this software?

Mac Os X by Apple

View all CVEs affecting Mac Os X →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

An attacker could gain root privileges on the system, allowing complete system compromise, data theft, and persistent backdoor installation.

🟠

Likely Case

Malicious software could exploit this during GarageBand installation to gain elevated privileges for persistence or to bypass security controls.

🟢

If Mitigated

With proper patch management and least privilege principles, the risk is limited to systems running vulnerable GarageBand versions during installation.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - This requires local access or malicious software already on the system, not directly exploitable over the network.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal users or malware could exploit this during GarageBand installation to escalate privileges.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires local access or ability to trigger GarageBand installation. No public exploit code has been disclosed.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: GarageBand 10.4.8

Vendor Advisory: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213650

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Open the App Store on macOS. 2. Click 'Updates' in the sidebar. 3. Find GarageBand and click 'Update'. 4. Restart your Mac after installation completes.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Uninstall GarageBand

all

Remove GarageBand from the system to eliminate the attack surface

sudo rm -rf /Applications/GarageBand.app

Restrict Installation Privileges

all

Prevent non-admin users from installing software that could trigger the vulnerability

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Restrict GarageBand installation to administrative users only
Monitor for GarageBand installation attempts and investigate any unauthorized installations

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check GarageBand version: Open GarageBand → GarageBand menu → About GarageBand. If version is earlier than 10.4.8, the system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

defaults read /Applications/GarageBand.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify GarageBand version is 10.4.8 or later using the same About GarageBand menu.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

GarageBand installation logs
Privilege escalation attempts in system logs
Unexpected process elevation

Network Indicators:

GarageBand update/download traffic from Apple servers

SIEM Query:

source="macos_system_logs" AND (process="GarageBand" OR event="privilege_escalation")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-27960

CVSS v3 Score: 7.8 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Published: May 8, 2023

Last Updated: January 29, 2025

🔗 References

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213650 Vendor Advisory
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213650 Vendor Advisory

📤 Share & Export

📄 Export Markdown 📋 Export JSON