CVE-2023-40404 Use after free in macOS

What is CVE-2023-40404?

CVE-2023-40404 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Apple Macos, published on 25 Oct 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in macOS Sonoma 14.1. An app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-40404?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Apple Macos.

How do I fix CVE-2023-40404?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-40404 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2023-40404 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-40404 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.

Other vulnerabilities in Apple Macos

• CVE-2026-65400 Apple macOS Improper Authentication Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2024-44146 Security feature bypass in macOS Critical 10.0
• CVE-2024-44148 Security feature bypass in macOS Critical 10.0
• CVE-2023-38586 Security feature bypass in macOS Critical 10.0
• CVE-2023-40455 Security feature bypass in macOS Critical 10.0

All Apple Macos vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-8q5r-gmrx-88jx.