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Incorrect AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-863

CVE-2026-40191

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v4.0 Published 2026-04-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
70/100
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
ClearanceKit intercepts file-system access events on macOS and enforces per-process access policies. Prior to 5.0.4-beta-1f46165, ClearanceKit's Endpoint Security event handler only checked the source path of dual-path file operations against File Access Authorization (FAA) rules and App Jail policies. The destination path was ignored entirely. This allowed any local process to bypass file-access protection by using rename, link, copyfile, exchangedata, or clone operations to place or replace files inside protected directories. This vulnerability is fixed in 5.0.4-beta-1f46165.

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

ClearanceKit's Endpoint Security event handler only validated source paths against File Access Authorization rules and App Jail policies, ignoring destination paths entirely. This allowed attackers to bypass file-access controls using dual-path operations like rename, link, copyfile, exchangedata, or clone to place or replace files inside protected directories.

MitigationUpgrade to ClearanceKit version 5.0.4-beta-1f46165 or later, which implements destination path validation alongside source path checking for dual-path file 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
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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. Identify installed ClearanceKit version
    Run 'clearancekit --version' or check the application package metadata to determine the exact version number
    Affected if Version is earlier than 5.0.4-beta-1f46165
  2. Confirm Endpoint Security module is active
    Check the Endpoint Security configuration: run 'clearancekit endpoint-security status' or inspect the main config file for the 'endpoint_security.enabled' setting set to true
    Affected if Endpoint Security module is enabled and protecting the system
  3. Verify File Access Authorization rules exist
    List configured File Access Authorization rules: run 'clearancekit faa rules list' or inspect the policy configuration for any rules restricting source paths
    Affected if File Access Authorization rules are defined and active
  4. Confirm App Jail policies are enforced
    Check App Jail policy status: run 'clearancekit app-jail policies list' or inspect the jail configuration for any active path restrictions
    Affected if App Jail policies are enabled with directory protection rules
  5. Test dual-path operation bypass (optional validation)
    Attempt a rename, link, copyfile, exchangedata, or clone operation from an unrestricted source to a protected destination directory, then verify whether the operation was allowed or blocked in the audit logs
    Affected if Operations that should be blocked by destination path restrictions are being permitted

The environment is affected if ClearanceKit is earlier than version 5.0.4-beta-1f46165 and Endpoint Security with File Access Authorization or App Jail policies is actively protecting directories, since destination paths in dual-path operations would not be validated.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to ClearanceKit version 5.0.4-beta-1f46165 or later, which implements destination path validation alongside source path checking for dual-path file operations.

Recommended fix High confidence

5.0.4-beta-1f46165

  1. 1. Identify the current installed version of ClearanceKit by checking the application or running 'strings' on the binary for version info
  2. 2. If running a version prior to 5.0.4-beta-1f46165, plan for upgrade to address the authorization bypass
  3. 3. Obtain the fixed version 5.0.4-beta-1f46165 from the official GitHub repository
  4. 4. Before deploying, review the release notes for 5.0.4-beta-1f46165 to understand any changes to functionality
  5. 5. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment to verify the fix works correctly
  6. 6. After testing, deploy version 5.0.4-beta-1f46165 to production systems
  7. 7. Verify that dual-path operations (rename, link, copyfile, exchangedata, clone) now properly check destination paths against FAA rules and App Jail policies
Caveat Beta release - may contain other experimental changes; test thoroughly before production deployment

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
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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-2026-40191 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
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