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Apple macOS EUVDEUVD-2026-77909

| CVE-2026-65399 MEDIUM
Authentication Bypass by Spoofing (CWE-290)
2026-09-14 apple GHSA-wjm8-8m5p-whv7
4.4
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: apple
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Craft archive with unsigned malicious app
  2. Delivery
    Deliver archive to victim (phishing/download)
  3. Exploit
    Victim expands archive locally
  4. Execution
    Payload evades Gatekeeper quarantine check
  5. Impact
    Unsigned code runs without warning

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A07:2025 - Authentication Failures
ASVS 5.0
V6 - Authentication Anti-spoofing controls
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Defense Evasion

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Requires the attacker to deliver a specially crafted archive to the victim and for the victim to expand/open it on an affected Apple OS; the flaw lets that archive evade the Gatekeeper/file-quarantine (com.apple.quarantine) verification so enclosed unsigned or un-notarized code executes without the normal block or warning prompt. LIMITING FACTORS: local vector (AV:L) - the archive must reach and be processed on the device; realistically depends on user action to expand the archive (contradicting the vendor's UI:N); impact is bounded (C:L/I:L/A:N) because it bypasses a trust warning rather than directly executing arbitrary code with high privilege. Affected versions: macOS <15.8/<26.7/<27, iOS/iPadOS <26.7/<27, visionOS/watchOS <27.

Impact

This is a genuinely low-priority issue despite the security-relevant nature of a Gatekeeper bypass. All exploitation signals point away from urgency: EPSS is 0.18% (8th percentile), it is NOT in CISA KEV, and no public exploit code has been identified. The vendor CVSS is only 4.4 (Medium-low) with a LOCAL attack vector (AV:L), low impacts (C:L/I:L/A:N), and no scope change (S:U). The key nuance is that this is a trust-gate/protection-mechanism bypass, not a memory-corruption or direct code-execution primitive - the archive merely evades the com.apple.quarantine/Gatekeeper verification so that enclosed content runs without the normal block or warning. That makes it a useful LINK in a social-engineering chain rather than a standalone threat. NOTE A DISCREPANCY: the vendor vector lists UI:N (no user interaction), but the description ('an archive may be able to bypass Gatekeeper') strongly implies the victim must download and expand the attacker-supplied archive, which is UI:R - verify with vendor. Also, Gatekeeper is fundamentally a macOS mechanism, yet the CVE is cross-listed to iOS/iPadOS/visionOS/watchOS (as file-quarantine); treat the non-macOS entries as the broader quarantine subsystem rather than classic desktop Gatekeeper.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker packages a malicious application inside a crafted archive and delivers it via phishing, a download link, or a messaging attachment. When the victim expands the archive on an affected Apple device, the enclosed payload evades the Gatekeeper/quarantine signature-and-notarization check and can run without the usual security prompt or block. No public exploit code is currently identified, and the low CVSS impacts (C:L/I:L) reflect that this bypasses a warning rather than directly granting code execution or data theft on its own.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Sep 17, 2026

Archive expansion on Apple operating systems can slip past Gatekeeper's file-quarantine checks, allowing unsigned or un-notarized code inside a crafted archive to run without the normal block or warning prompt; macOS (Sequoia, Tahoe and Golden Gate), iOS/iPadOS, visionOS and watchOS are all affected and remediated in the 26.7/27 and 15.8 releases documented in Apple advisories 149034-149043. The flaw is local in nature (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L), requires the archive to actually reach and be expanded on the device, and carries bounded impact (C:L/I:L/A:N) because it defeats a trust warning rather than granting elevated execution - though the vendor's vector assumes low privileges and no user interaction while our independent assessment treats the expand/open step as user-driven. There is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no CISA KEV listing, with EPSS at 0.18% (8th percentile), making this a genuinely low-priority issue despite the security-relevant nature of a Gatekeeper bypass; exploitation status is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis'.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patches address the quarantine bypass: apply iOS 26.7 or iOS 27 (and the matching iPadOS releases), macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7, macOS Golden Gate 27, visionOS 27, and watchOS 27, per Apple advisories https://support.apple.com/en-us/149034, https://support.apple.com/en-us/149035, https://support.apple.com/en-us/149037, https://support.apple.com/en-us/149038, https://support.apple.com/en-us/149041, https://support.apple.com/en-us/149042 and https://support.apple.com/en-us/149043; no interim mitigation is documented by the vendor. Where immediate upgrading is impractical, reduce exposure by treating archive expansion as a trust boundary: block or restrict delivery of untrusted archives through email/web gateways, and decode user preference for automatically opening downloaded archives (changing the 'Open safe files after downloading' setting in Safari and similar auto-expand behaviour in third-party clients), accepting the usability cost that users must open archives manually. Additionally, inspect extracted content before launch - verify signatures with codesign -dv --verbose and evaluate Gatekeeper status with spctl -a -vv, or strip and re-apply the quarantine attribute (xattr -w com.apple.quarantine) on extracted files - but note these are manual, error-prone checks that do not scale, and re-applying quarantine only helps if the recipient actually honours the block. Enterprise controls such as restricting execution to notarized and allowlisted code via MDM configuration profiles provide stronger compensating coverage at the cost of blocking legitimate internally built binaries that are not notarized.

Affected VersionsENISA

macOS 0 <27
watchOS 0 <27
visionOS 0 <27
iOS and iPadOS 0 <26.7
macOS 0 <26.7
iOS and iPadOS 0 <27
macOS 0 <15.8

Affected Packages

euvd ios_and_ipados fix: 26.7, 27
euvd macos fix: 15.8, 26.7, 27
euvd visionos fix: 27
euvd watchos fix: 27

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 4 packages in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The vulnerability maps to CWE-290 (Authentication Bypass by Spoofing) and concerns macOS's quarantine mechanism, the com.apple.quarantine extended attribute that downloading applications (browsers, Mail, Messages) attach to files so that Gatekeeper can later verify code signing and notarization before first execution. When a user expands an archive, the decompression path is expected to propagate the quarantine flag to the extracted contents; this fix adds 'additional checks' because a specially crafted archive could cause the enclosed payload to be presented in a way that evades that propagation, effectively spoofing the trust context so Gatekeeper's verification is skipped and unsigned/un-notarized code launches without the usual prompt or block. The relevant CPE entries are cpe:2.3:a:apple:ios_and_ipados, cpe:2.3:a:apple:macos, cpe:2.3:a:apple:visionos and cpe:2.3:a:apple:watchos; versions listed by EUVD as macOS 0 <15.8, macOS 0 <26.7 and macOS 0 <27, iOS/iPadOS 0 <26.7 and 0 <27, visionOS 0 <27 and watchOS 0 <27. Because the flaw lives in the local archive/quarantine handling path rather than a remote service, the attack surface is the file-expansion code path (Archive Utility, ditto and related APIs) and the trust decision that follows extraction, which is why the vendor rates it AV:L/AC:L but our assessment raises the user-interaction requirement to UI:R.

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Severity by source

Vendor (apple) PRIMARY 4.4 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
vuln.today AI 4.4 MEDIUM

Local archive delivered to and expanded by the victim (AV:L, UI:R, PR:N); bypasses a trust gate for modest integrity/confidentiality impact, no availability effect.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (apple).

CVSS VectorVendor: apple

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

Lifecycle Timeline

4
CVSS changed
Sep 17, 2026 - 17:22 NVD
4.4 (MEDIUM)
Patch available
Sep 14, 2026 - 22:19 EUVD
CVE Published
Sep 14, 2026 - 20:50 cve.org
MEDIUM 4.4
CVE Published
Sep 14, 2026 - 20:50 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

A file quarantine bypass was addressed with additional checks. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.7 and iPadOS 26.7, iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7, visionOS 27, watchOS 27. An archive may be able to bypass Gatekeeper.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 92% exploitable
Prevalence
Ubiquitous
Apple iOS/iPadOS/macOS/visionOS/watchOS - billions of consumer and enterprise devices
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

22
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +22
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

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