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Researchers at XM Cyber disclosed a macOS privilege-escalation technique that allows a standard, non-administrative user to disable enterprise security software and invoke privileged functions without administrator credentials or kernel exploits. The attack chain abuses legitimate macOS behavior by combining weakly validated XPC connections, malicious payload injection into Interface Builder NIB files, and a newly described misuse of the kernel code-signing trust cache, which can continue trusting an application's CDHash after a legitimately signed app has run.
XM Cyber said it successfully used the method to silently unload or permanently deactivate CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor, Kandji MDM, and a third unnamed EDR product without triggering alerts. Kandji addressed the issue in an updated agent release and assigned CVE-2026-39118, CrowdStrike reportedly paid a bug bounty and added detections while disclosure continues, and another vendor is developing a patch; XM Cyber also warned that Apple does not plan to remediate the underlying macOS design issue, leaving software vendors to implement their own mitigations.
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XM Cyber researcher Hillel Pinto said he plans to present the research at Black Hat USA in August 2026 and release an open source tool called XPC Hunter. The planned presentation would publicly detail the macOS attack chain and related detection opportunities.
A third unnamed enterprise EDR vendor affected by the macOS technique was reported to be developing a patch. XM Cyber had successfully demonstrated the attack chain against that vendor's product.
Following disclosure from XM Cyber, CrowdStrike reportedly paid a bug bounty and added detections related to the macOS technique. XM Cyber said disclosure with CrowdStrike was still ongoing.
Kandji addressed the issue in an updated Kandji Agent release and assigned CVE-2026-39118. The patch was issued in response to XM Cyber's findings about disabling or permanently deactivating the MDM agent on macOS.
XM Cyber researchers demonstrated a macOS privilege-escalation and trust-cache abuse technique that lets a standard user disable or deactivate endpoint security tools without administrator credentials, kernel exploits, or alerts. The researchers showed the method working against CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor, Kandji MDM, and a third unnamed enterprise EDR vendor.
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Researchers disclosed the first public bypass of Apple **Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE)** on macOS 26.4.1 by chaining two vulnerabilities: `CVE-2026-64704` in **SMBClient** and `CVE-2026-64699` in **webdavfs**. The SMB flaw is a type confusion issue triggered when a macOS client connects to a malicious SMB server, causing the kernel to reinterpret a Resolve ID context as a lease context and misuse attacker-influenced kernel pointers. The WebDAV flaw is a kernel memory disclosure bug triggered by a crafted HTTP `206` response from a malicious WebDAV server, leaking uninitialized kernel memory to userspace. The researchers said the combined exploit chain produces arbitrary kernel read/write primitives and ultimately kernel code execution, allowing an unprivileged user to escalate privileges to **root** despite Apple’s layered kernel protections. Apple has patched both issues in macOS 26.6, and the disclosure was accompanied by a public exploit-development challenge and notice of a planned Black Hat USA presentation detailing the technique.
Jul 30, 2026
Threat actors are increasingly targeting macOS users with **infostealers** and distribution-as-a-service models, reflecting a broader “gold rush” in Apple-focused malware development. Reporting highlights macOS stealers targeting browser credentials and cryptocurrency assets (including seed phrases) and notes tactics to evade Apple controls such as obtaining valid Apple developer signatures to bypass *Gatekeeper*; one cited example is *MacSync* being notarized and signed under Team ID `GNJLS3UYZ4`. The same reporting describes ecosystem-scale enablement, including large-scale compromise of WordPress sites for distribution and novel command-and-control approaches such as using blockchain smart contracts (e.g., on **BNB Smart Chain**), alongside paid-traffic abuse (e.g., promoting malicious AI chat content via ads) to push stealer payloads. Separately, a Darktrace-described investigation details a **multi-stage macOS malware** campaign that prioritizes *social engineering* over exploitation to defeat Apple’s **Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC)** privacy framework. Victims are lured via phishing to open an AppleScript masquerading as a document (`Confirmation_Token_Vesting.docx.scpt`), which displays a fake “Compatibility” error and instructs the user to launch a “Compatibility Wizard” (e.g., using a keyboard shortcut) that effectively tricks them into authorizing execution and granting access. Together, the reporting indicates macOS threats are increasingly succeeding by combining credential/crypto theft objectives with user-prompt manipulation and trust-abuse techniques rather than relying on kernel or sandbox escapes.
Jun 29, 2026
Multiple reports describe ways attackers or testers can **abuse trusted enterprise features** to evade controls. Researchers reported that *Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR* **Live Terminal** can be repurposed as a stealthy **command-and-control (C2)** channel because its WebSocket-based protocol lacks command signing; an attacker who can intercept the initial WebSocket message can redirect an endpoint to an attacker-controlled server/tenant, leveraging the trusted `cortex-xdr-payload.exe` component to execute commands in a “living off the land” manner. Separately, a tutorial showed *Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps* (reverse-proxy `*.mcas.ms`) download restrictions for unmanaged devices can be **bypassed by spoofing specific browser user-agent strings**, allowing direct access to services like Outlook/SharePoint and enabling successful downloads that would otherwise be blocked. Other material in the set covers adjacent but distinct execution and delivery risks rather than the same product-specific bypasses. **CVE-2026-27615** affects *ADB-Explorer* on Windows: allowing `ManualAdbPath` to be set to a **UNC path** in a settings file can lead to **remote code execution** by pointing the app to an attacker-controlled network share, fixed in Beta `0.9.26022`. Cofense also documented ongoing campaigns abusing **Windows File Explorer WebDAV** handling to deliver malware without a browser download flow, including use of `trycloudflare[.]com` tunnels to host WebDAV servers and multi-stage script chains to deliver RATs—highlighting a persistent social-engineering and delivery vector that can bypass some browser-centric controls.
Jun 29, 2026