{"id":40372,"date":"2025-05-19T10:35:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T10:35:01","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-22T19:05:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T01:05:38","slug":"cve-2022-46721-arbitrary-code-execution-vulnerability-in-macos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2022-46721-arbitrary-code-execution-vulnerability-in-macos\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2022-46721: Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability in macOS<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In this blog post, we&#8217;re addressing a critical vulnerability that exists in macOS Ventura 13, tagged as CVE-2022-46721. This vulnerability has the potential to compromise the system and lead to data leakage. Its severity should not be underestimated as it allows an application to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-46193-remote-code-execution-vulnerability-in-sourcecodester-client-database-management-system-1-0\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"45287\">execute arbitrary code<\/a> with kernel privileges, which is one of the highest levels of access in a system. Since macOS is a widely used <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-24223-memory-corruption-vulnerability-in-various-operating-systems-and-safari-browser\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"47385\">operating system<\/a>, this vulnerability can potentially affect a large number of users. Therefore, understanding this vulnerability and how to mitigate it is crucial for both individual users and organizations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2022-46721<br \/>\nSeverity: High, CVSS score of 7.8<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Local<br \/>\nPrivileges Required: Low<br \/>\nUser Interaction: Yes<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-42977-path-handling-vulnerability-that-risks-data-leakage-and-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"56977\">System compromise and possible data leakage<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-2368797058\" class=\"ameeb-content-2 ameeb-entity-placement\"><div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #555; padding-left: 20px; margin: 48px 0; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 700px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 8px;\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Best-App-icon-Ameeba.png\" alt=\"Ameeba Chat Icon\" style=\"width: 40px; height: 40px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    A new way to communicate\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 12px;\">\r\n    Ameeba Chat is built on encrypted identity, not personal profiles.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 16px;\">\r\n    Message, call, share files, and coordinate with identities kept separate.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 20px;\">\r\n    <li>\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Ameeba Chat authenticates access<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Aliases and categories<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, and files<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Secure notes for sensitive information<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\r\n    Private communication, rethought.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div style=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\/download\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Download Ameeba Chat<\/a>\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Learn More<\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2022-47915-kernel-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-macos-ventura-13\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"47770\">macOS | Ventura<\/a> 13<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-26844-critical-cookie-handling-vulnerability-in-znuny\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"45528\">vulnerability CVE-2022-46721 is a memory handling<\/a> issue within the macOS Ventura 13. It allows an application to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-44022-arbitrary-code-execution-vulnerability-in-vvveb-cms-v-1-0-6\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"45347\">execute arbitrary code<\/a> with kernel privileges. Essentially, an attacker can manipulate the memory handling mechanism of the operating system, causing it to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-29509-critical-remote-code-execution-vulnerability-in-jan-v0-5-14\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"45546\">execute malicious code<\/a> with elevated privileges. This execution may <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-34333-critical-vulnerability-in-ami-s-spx-leads-to-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"47771\">lead to a complete system compromise and potential<\/a> data leakage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-678339861\" class=\"ameeb-content ameeb-entity-placement\"><div class=\"poptin-embedded\" data-id=\"f6b387694f681\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>While we do not provide actual exploit code, here&#8217;s a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">$ echo &#039;malicious_code&#039; &gt; exploit.c\n$ gcc -o exploit exploit.c\n$ .\/exploit<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>In this hypothetical example, the &#8216;malicious_code&#8217; is written into a C file, which is then compiled and executed. This execution, if successful, would leverage the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-11861-critical-command-injection-vulnerability-in-enersys-ampa-granting-privileged-remote-shell-access\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"45242\">vulnerability to run arbitrary code with kernel privileges<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Countermeasures<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To mitigate CVE-2022-46721, users are advised to apply the vendor patch as soon as possible. If immediate patching is not possible, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as temporary mitigation. These systems can help detect and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-3605-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-frontend-login-and-registration-blocks-plugin-for-wordpress\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"46147\">block attempts to exploit this vulnerability<\/a>. However, these are merely temporary solutions, and patching the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-7093-critical-vulnerability-in-belkin-f9k1122-1-00-33-impacting-system-security-and-data-integrity\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"91173\">system should be the primary goal to ensure maximum security<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview In this blog post, we&#8217;re addressing a critical vulnerability that exists in macOS Ventura 13, tagged as CVE-2022-46721. This vulnerability has the potential to compromise the system and lead to data leakage. Its severity should not be underestimated as it allows an application to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges, which is one of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[77,88],"product":[95],"attack_vector":[80],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-40372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-apple","vendor-linux","product-linux-kernel","attack_vector-rce"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40372"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84192,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40372\/revisions\/84192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40372"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=40372"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=40372"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=40372"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=40372"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=40372"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=40372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}