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CVE-2024-27809

5.5 MEDIUM

📋 TL;DR

This CVE describes a privacy vulnerability in macOS where applications could access sensitive user data from system logs. The issue affects macOS systems before Sonoma 14.4. Apple has addressed this by improving private data redaction in log entries.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:
  • macOS
Versions: Versions before macOS Sonoma 14.4
Operating Systems: macOS
Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes
Notes: All macOS systems running vulnerable versions are affected by default. The vulnerability requires applications to have access to system logs.

📦 What is this software?

Macos by Apple

macOS is Apple's desktop and laptop operating system powering Mac computers used by millions of professionals, developers, creative professionals, and enterprise users worldwide. Built on a Unix foundation with the Darwin kernel and modern Cocoa frameworks, macOS delivers a seamless ecosystem integr...

Learn more about Macos →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Malicious applications could extract sensitive user information such as passwords, personal data, or authentication tokens from system logs, leading to privacy breaches and potential credential theft.

🟠

Likely Case

Applications with legitimate access to system logs could inadvertently or intentionally view sensitive user data that should have been redacted, violating user privacy expectations.

🟢

If Mitigated

With proper application sandboxing and least-privilege access controls, the impact is limited to applications that already have log access permissions.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - This vulnerability requires local application execution and does not directly expose systems to remote exploitation.
🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Malicious or compromised applications running on affected macOS systems could exploit this to access sensitive data.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No
Weaponized: UNKNOWN
Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No
Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires a malicious application to be installed and running on the target system with appropriate permissions to access system logs.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: macOS Sonoma 14.4

Vendor Advisory: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT214084

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Open System Settings 2. Click General 3. Click Software Update 4. Install macOS Sonoma 14.4 or later 5. Restart when prompted

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Restrict application log access

macOS

Use macOS privacy controls to limit which applications can access system logs

Disable unnecessary logging

macOS

Reduce sensitive data exposure by disabling non-essential logging features

🧯 If You Can't Patch

  • Implement strict application control policies to prevent unauthorized applications from running
  • Regularly audit installed applications and remove unnecessary or untrusted software

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check macOS version: 1. Click Apple menu > About This Mac 2. If version is earlier than 14.4, system is vulnerable

Check Version:

sw_vers

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify macOS version is 14.4 or later in About This Mac

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

  • Unusual log access patterns by applications
  • Applications accessing log files containing sensitive data markers

Network Indicators:

  • No direct network indicators - this is a local privacy vulnerability

SIEM Query:

process_name:log AND (event_type:access OR event_type:read) AND sensitive_data_indicators

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2024-27809
CVSS v3 Score: 5.5 (MEDIUM)
CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Published: July 29, 2024
Last Updated: March 13, 2025

🔗 References

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