Security Resilience

CVE-2023-32352

Access Control in Apple Macos 11.0 – 11.7.7

Published
23 June 2023
Modified
05 December 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0023 13th percentile
Risk Priority 42 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-32352 is a medium-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key (CWE-639) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked at the 13th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A logic issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in watchOS 9.5, macOS Ventura 13.4, macOS Big Sur 11.7.7, macOS Monterey 12.6.6, iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5. An app may bypass Gatekeeper checks.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
T1011 Exfiltration Over Other Network Medium Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over a different network medium than the command and control channel.
T1016.002 Wi-Fi Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may search for information about Wi-Fi networks, such as network names and passwords, on compromised systems.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-27821Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-42947Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-27869Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-40439Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-27871Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-44255Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-32434Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-40829Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-39434Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-44167Same product: Apple Ipados

Affected Assets

apple
ipados
≤ 16.5
apple
iphone os
≤ 16.5
apple
macos
11.0 — 11.7.7 · 12.0.0 — 12.6.6 · 13.0 — 13.4
apple
watchos
≤ 9.5

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-639

Per-request decision making makes it harder to bypass authorization using user-controlled keys without proper validation in the decision process.

addresses: CWE-639

Consistent enforcement of approved authorizations makes bypassing via user-controlled keys ineffective.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 partial match
blocks

Enforcing authorization policy and least privilege directly blocks user-controlled key tampering that bypasses access checks.

PR.IR-01 partial match
blocks

Logical access controls prevent unauthorized data access that results from missing authorization checks on object references.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

removes
blocks

A.5.15 directly requires defining and implementing access control rules (including authorization, need-to-know, role-based restrictions, formal requests, and consistency with classification) that stop one user from reaching another's data via a tampered key; the bounded remainder is dynamic or application-specific authorization logic (cross-referenced to 8.26) that may still allow bypass if those downstream rules are flawed.

removes
blocks

Managing access rights includes ensuring users can only access their own records and not bypass authorization by altering identifiers.

removes

References