Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-20624

Access Control in Apple Macos 14.0 – 14.8.4

Published
11 February 2026
Modified
02 April 2026
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:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0018 8th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-20624 is a medium-severity Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Local System (T1005); ranked at the 8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An injection issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.7.4, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, macOS Tahoe 26.3. An app may be able to access sensitive user data.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
Why these techniques?

CWE-863 authorization bypass via injection allows a local app to read otherwise inaccessible sensitive user data on macOS, directly enabling T1005.

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-24233Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-44287Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-44196Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-44289Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-41078Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-44301Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-23510Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-44305Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-44247Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-44137Same product: Apple Macos

Affected Assets

apple
macos
14.0 — 14.8.4 · 15.0 — 15.7.4 · 26.0 — 26.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly enforces authorization decisions to block the unauthorized access to sensitive user data that results from the CWE-863 flaw.

prevent

Requires validation of all inputs, which is exactly the remediation applied to close the injection vector allowing data access.

prevent

Limits privileges granted to apps so that even a bypassed authorization check cannot reach sensitive user data.

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 mostly match
prevents

Defining, enforcing, and reviewing access authorizations and least privilege directly prevents incorrect authorization checks.

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.

prevents

Requiring consistency between access rights and classification plus formal approval steps ensures that the authorization logic correctly distinguishes between entities that should and should not be granted access.

prevents

Enforcing policy-driven approval and role-change reviews stops incorrect or stale authorization decisions from remaining in effect after job changes or terminations.

prevents

By tying access rights to identity, device, location and classification, the control reduces the likelihood that an authorization decision will be based on an incorrect or bypassed policy.

References