Privilege escalation in Macvim
CVE-2023-41036
Macvim is a text editor for MacOS. Prior to version 178, Macvim makes use of an insecure interprocess communication (IPC) mechanism which could lead to a privilege escalation. Distributed objects are a concept introduced by Apple which allow one program to vend an interface to another program. What is not made clear in the documentation is that this service can vend this interface to any other program on the machine. The impact of exploitation is a privilege escalation to root - this is likely to affect anyone who is not careful about the software they download and use MacVim to edit files that would require root privileges. Version 178 contains a fix for this issue.
Vulnerability class: Privilege Escalation
EPSS: 0.003 (27.0th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
- Macvim
- Macvim-dev Macvim — versions < 178
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_CONFIRM, Exploit, Vendor Advisory)
- security-advisories@github.com (Patch, x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (Product, x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2023-41036?
- CVE-2023-41036 is a high-severity vulnerability in Macvim, classified under Improper Privilege Management. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2023-11-07.
- How severe is CVE-2023-41036?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2023-41036 known to be exploited?
- 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.