High

Root Privilege Escalation in macOS Remote Management

IdentifiersCVE-2026-20614CWE-22· Improper Limitation of a Pathname…

CVE-2026-20614 is a path-handling vulnerability in the Remote Management component of macOS. Apple states the issue was addressed with improved validation and that exploitation may allow an app to gain root privileges. The flaw affects macOS prior to Sequoia 15.7.4, Tahoe 26.3, and Sonoma 14.8.4. Based on Apple’s description, the weakness involves improper handling or validation of filesystem paths within Remote Management, creating a local privilege-escalation condition for a locally executing application.

For your environment

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation can result in local privilege escalation to root. An attacker who can run an application on the target system may be able to elevate privileges from the app’s existing context to full root-level access, enabling complete compromise of the host, including modification of system state, access to protected data, installation of persistence, and disabling or bypassing security controls.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

No vendor-specific workaround is provided in the supplied content. Until patching is completed, reduce exposure by preventing execution of untrusted or unsigned applications, enforcing application allowlisting, minimizing local user ability to install or run arbitrary apps, and applying least-privilege controls and endpoint monitoring for suspicious privilege-escalation behavior involving Remote Management-related processes.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Apply Apple’s security updates that fix the issue: macOS Sequoia 15.7.4, macOS Tahoe 26.3, or macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, or later versions. Apple indicates the vulnerability was fixed through improved path validation in Remote Management.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

AppleMacosoperating_system

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

8 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

8 SOURCESView more in app

handlers diary fullNews

Feb 11, 2026

Apple Patches Everything: February 2026 - SANS ISC

Privilege escalation to root via Remote Management.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.

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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity7