CVE-2023-41036 Macvim's Insecure Usage of IPC Mechanisms
An insecure IPC mechanism in MacVim allows local attackers to escalate privileges to root by exploiting distributed object interfaces.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2023-41036?
CVE-2023-41036 is a high-severity vulnerability in macvim-dev macvim, published on 12 Sep 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
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.
Weakness: CWE-269
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-41036?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Macvim Macvim.
How do I fix CVE-2023-41036?
No fix has been published for CVE-2023-41036 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2023-41036 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-41036 exists.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-9jgj-jfwg-99fv.