dbcve.org
Incorrect AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-863

CVE-2024-7457

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
The ws.stash.app.mac.daemon.helper tool contains a vulnerability caused by an incorrect use of macOS’s authorization model. Instead of validating the client's authorization reference, the helper invokes AuthorizationCopyRights() using its own privileged context (root), effectively authorizing itself rather than the client. As a result, it grants the system.preferences.admin right internally, regardless of the requesting client's privileges. This flawed logic allows unprivileged clients to invoke privileged operations via XPC, including unauthorized changes to system-wide network preferences such as SOCKS, HTTP, and HTTPS proxy settings. The absence of proper code-signing checks further enables arbitrary processes to exploit this flaw, leading to man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks through traffic redirection.

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 · high confidence

The ws.stash.app macOS helper tool incorrectly uses macOS authorization by invoking AuthorizationCopyRights() with its own root context instead of validating the client's authorization reference. This allows unprivileged clients to invoke privileged XPC operations and modify system-wide network proxy settings (SOCKS, HTTP, HTTPS), enabling MITM attacks. The lack of code-signing validation further enables arbitrary processes to exploit this flaw.

MitigationFix the helper to properly validate client authorization references rather than authorizing itself, and implement code-signing verification to ensure only legitimate clients can invoke privileged operations.

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

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
High

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

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 if ws.stash.app is installed
    Search for the application in common locations: /Applications/, ~/Applications/, or run 'ls -la /Applications/ | grep -i stash' and 'mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier | grep -i stash'
    Affected if The application bundle with identifier containing 'stash' or 'ws.stash' is found in the system
  2. Determine the installed ws.stash.app version
    Run 'defaults read /Applications/ws.stash.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString' or right-click the app in Finder and select Get Info to view the version number
    Affected if The version number matches or predates any known vulnerable version (compare against published patch versions when available)
  3. Locate and inspect the helper tool binary
    Check for the helper tool at paths like '/Library/Application Support/ws.stash.app/' or inside the app bundle at 'Contents/Library/LaunchServices/' and inspect its permissions with 'ls -la <path>'
    Affected if A helper tool binary exists with elevated privileges (root ownership, setuid bit, or sudo permissions)
  4. Verify code signing status of the helper
    Run 'codesign -dv /path/to/helper.tool' to check if the helper is properly signed, and compare the signing certificate against the main application
    Affected if The helper tool is not code-signed, has an invalid signature, or the signature does not match the main application certificate
  5. Check for unauthorized proxy configuration changes
    Inspect system proxy settings via System Preferences > Network > Advanced > Proxies, or run 'scutil --proxy' and review any SOCKS/HTTP/HTTPS proxy configurations you did not intentionally set
    Affected if Proxy settings show unexpected or unauthorized configurations pointing to unknown servers

If ws.stash.app is installed and its helper tool exists with elevated privileges but lacks proper code-signing validation, the environment is likely vulnerable to CVE-2024-7457.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Fix the helper to properly validate client authorization references rather than authorizing itself, and implement code-signing verification to ensure only legitimate clients can invoke privileged operations.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,600
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-7457 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2024-7457 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