Protected-data access via Safari preference overwrite
Published Sep 16, 2024 · Updated Apr 2, 2026
Privacy-control bypass in Apple macOS before 15 allows local users to access protected data through a malicious app on an MDM-managed Mac. Changing the user's home-directory record removes TCC protection from Safari's directory, allowing PerSitePreferences.db to be overwritten before Safari is returned to the original home. The app must execute locally on an MDM-managed device; successful exploitation exposes browsing history, camera, microphone, and location data without consent.
Summary
What happened
Privacy-control bypass in Apple macOS before 15 allows local users to access protected data through a malicious app on an MDM-managed Mac. Changing the user's home-directory record removes TCC protection from Safari's directory, allowing PerSitePreferences.db to be overwritten before Safari is returned to the original home. The app must execute locally on an MDM-managed device; successful exploitation exposes browsing history, camera, microphone, and location data without consent.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-44133
- Published
- Sep 16, 2024
- Updated
- Apr 2, 2026
- Vendor
- Apple
- Product
- macOS
- Classifications
- T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 16, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 2, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <15
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Microsoft HM Surf demonstrationproof of concept · demonstrated
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Reported exploitation
- Adload behavior resembling HM Surfreported exploitation
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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