CVE-2024-54546
Published: 10 March 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-54546 is a high-severity Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 44.0th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-16 (Memory Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2024-54546 is a memory handling vulnerability affecting macOS versions prior to Sequoia 15. The issue, classified under CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption), was addressed through improved memory management in the kernel. It carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N), indicating high integrity impact with no confidentiality or availability effects.
The vulnerability can be exploited by an unprivileged attacker over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. A malicious app can trigger the flaw to corrupt kernel memory or cause unexpected system termination, potentially enabling further kernel-level disruptions or persistence mechanisms.
Apple's security advisory at https://support.apple.com/en-us/121238 confirms the fix in macOS Sequoia 15, recommending users update to the patched version to mitigate the issue. No additional workarounds are specified in available details.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-54260
Vulnerability details
The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15. An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination or corrupt kernel memory.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Kernel memory corruption from user-space malicious app directly enables privilege escalation to kernel level; potential persistence is a secondary effect.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly remediates the specific kernel memory handling flaw through timely flaw identification, reporting, and patching as provided in macOS Sequoia 15.
Implements controls designed to minimize the impact of memory-based attacks, comprehensively addressing kernel memory corruption exploited by this vulnerability.
Prohibits or controls user-installed software to prevent malicious apps from being installed and triggering the kernel memory corruption.