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High

Sandbox escape in macOS Installer

IdentifiersCVE-2026-28978CWE-284· Improper Access Control

CVE-2026-28978 is a sandbox escape vulnerability in the macOS Installer component. Apple describes it as a permissions issue in which a malicious app may be able to break out of its sandbox. The issue affected macOS Sonoma, macOS Sequoia, and macOS Tahoe, and was fixed by adding additional restrictions. Available context does not identify the specific vulnerable function or code path beyond Installer.

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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 allows a malicious local application to escape the macOS app sandbox and operate outside the restrictions normally imposed on sandboxed apps. This can undermine platform isolation boundaries and enable broader access to system resources or data than the app should have under its assigned sandbox profile.

Mitigation

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

Until patched, reduce exposure by limiting execution of untrusted or unreviewed applications, especially sandboxed apps obtained from untrusted sources. Enforce application allowlisting and standard macOS application control measures where possible. Because this is a local malicious-app scenario, minimizing the ability of attackers to run code on the host is the primary mitigation. No more specific workaround is provided in the available information.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Apply the vendor fixes released by Apple: macOS Sonoma 14.8.7, macOS Sequoia 15.7.7, and macOS Tahoe 26.5. Apple states the issue was addressed by introducing additional restrictions in Installer.
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

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

9 SOURCESView more in app
+3 more in the timeline
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 activity2

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.

EXTERNAL REFERENCES
MITRE CVE
cve.org · CVE-2026-28978
NVD
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-28978
MITRE CWE · CWE-284
Improper Access Control
Vendor Advisory
support.apple.com/en-us/127115
Vendor Advisory
support.apple.com/en-us/127116
Vendor Advisory
support.apple.com/en-us/127117