macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2024-54495

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.7.2 / 15.2 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
The issue was addressed with improved permissions logic. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.2, macOS Sonoma 14.7.2. An app may be able to modify protected parts of the file system.

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 local permissions bypass in macOS allowed an application to modify protected parts of the file system through insufficient permission checks. The vulnerability was addressed with improved permissions logic in macOS Sonoma 14.7.2 and Sequoia 15.2.

MitigationApply the macOS security updates (Sonoma 14.7.2 or Sequoia 15.2) to all affected systems to receive the improved file system permissions logic.

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:>= 14.0, < 14.7.2>= 15.0, < 15.2

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/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
    Run `sw_vers -productVersion` in Terminal or click Apple menu > About This Mac
    Affected if Version is 14.0 through 14.7.1 (Sonoma) or 15.0 through 15.1 (Sequoia)
  2. Confirm macOS name and build
    Run `sw_vers` to see product name and build number
    Affected if Product name shows Sonoma and build is earlier than 23G93, or Product name shows Sequoia and build is earlier than 24C91

A system is affected if it runs macOS Sonoma 14.0 to 14.7.1 or macOS Sequoia 15.0 to 15.1, as these versions contain the vulnerable permissions logic that was corrected in 14.7.2 and 15.2.

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 14.7.2 / 15.2 or later
Fixed in 14.7.215.2
Interim mitigation

Apply the macOS security updates (Sonoma 14.7.2 or Sequoia 15.2) to all affected systems to receive the improved file system permissions logic.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Sonoma 14.7.2 or macOS Sequoia 15.2

  1. Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup method before performing a system update
  2. Check your current macOS version by clicking the Apple menu > About This Mac
  3. If running macOS Sonoma (14.x), upgrade to macOS 14.7.2 by going to System Settings > General > Software Update and installing the available update
  4. If running macOS Sequoia (15.0-15.1), upgrade to macOS 15.2 by going to System Settings > General > Software Update and installing the available update
  5. After the update completes, restart your Mac if prompted to complete the installation
Caveat Standard macOS update risks apply - verify compatibility of critical applications before updating; some third-party apps may require updates after major point releases

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-54495 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2024-54495 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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