# CVE-2026-40604: Security feature bypass in clearancekit

> A root process can suspend the ClearanceKit macOS extension, causing file-access policies to fail open and allowing unauthorized file access.

- **Severity:** High 8.2 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5r9w-9fg6-266q

## What is CVE-2026-40604?

CVE-2026-40604 is a high-severity vulnerability in craigjbass clearancekit, published on 21 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

ClearanceKit intercepts file-system access events on macOS and enforces per-process access policies. Prior to 5.0.6, the opfilter Endpoint Security system extension (bundle ID uk.craigbass.clearancekit.opfilter) can be suspended with SIGSTOP or kill -STOP, or killed with SIGKILL/SIGTERM, by any process running as root. While the extension is suspended, all AUTH Endpoint Security events time out and default to allow, silently disabling ClearanceKit's file-access policy enforcement for the duration of the suspension. This vulnerability is fixed in 5.0.6.

Weakness: CWE-693 (Protection Mechanism Failure)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-40604?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Craigjbass Clearancekit.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-40604?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-40604 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-40604 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-40604 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in craigjbass clearancekit

- [CVE-2026-33631](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33631/): ClearanceKit: opfilter policy bypass via non-open file operations (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2026-40599](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-40599/): ClearanceKit: Ad-hoc signed binaries can spoof Apple process identities in the global allowlist (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2026-33632](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33632/): ClearanceKit: opfilter policy bypass via exchangedata and clone operations (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2026-34218](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-34218/): ClearanceKit: Managed and user-defined policy rules not enforced between opfilter start and first policy modification (medium 6.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-40604 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-40604 is a high-severity vulnerability in craigjbass clearancekit, published on 21 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-40604 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: craigjbass clearancekit. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-40604/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-40604/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-40604
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-40604
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-40604

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-40604/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.