macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2024-44156

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-10-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.7.1 / 14.7.1 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A path deletion vulnerability was addressed by preventing vulnerable code from running with privileges. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.1, macOS Sonoma 14.7.1, macOS Ventura 13.7.1. An app may be able to bypass Privacy preferences.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A path deletion vulnerability in macOS allows a local application to bypass Privacy preferences by deleting certain system paths that enforce permission controls. The fix prevents vulnerable code from executing with elevated privileges, closing the privilege escalation vector.

MitigationApply the relevant macOS security update (Sequoia 15.1, Sonoma 14.7.1, or Ventura 13.7.1) to prevent local applications from bypassing Privacy preferences through path deletion.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
macOSOperating system
Affected:< 13.7.1>= 14.0, < 14.7.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed macOS version
    Open Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if The version is below 13.7.1, or is 14.0 through 14.6.x (14.7.0)

If the macOS version is 13.7.1 or higher, or 14.7.1 or higher, the system is not affected by this vulnerability.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 13.7.1 / 14.7.1 or later
Fixed in 13.7.114.7.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the relevant macOS security update (Sequoia 15.1, Sonoma 14.7.1, or Ventura 13.7.1) to prevent local applications from bypassing Privacy preferences through path deletion.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Sequoia 15.1, macOS Sonoma 14.7.1, or macOS Ventura 13.7.1 (depending on your current macOS version)

  1. 1. Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup method before performing the update
  2. 2. Check current macOS version by clicking the Apple menu and selecting About This Mac
  3. 3. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions)
  4. 4. Navigate to General > Software Update
  5. 5. Allow the system to check for updates and install the appropriate update: macOS Ventura 13.7.1, macOS Sonoma 14.7.1, or macOS Sequoia 15.1
  6. 6. Restart the Mac when prompted to complete the installation
  7. 7. Verify the update was successful by checking About This Mac again
Caveat Standard macOS minor updates typically have minimal breaking changes; however, verify critical third-party applications are compatible with the new patch version before updating

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-44156 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data