# CVE-2026-78236: Insecure PIN derivation mechanism in Admin By Request (ABR)

> A low-privileged user can escalate to administrator by exploiting an insecure PIN derivation mechanism via XPC masquerading.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 26 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 28 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-733c-6w54-grpx

## What is CVE-2026-78236?

CVE-2026-78236 is a high-severity vulnerability in Admin By Request (ABR), published on 26 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An insecure PIN derivation mechanism in ABR allows a low-privileged user to escalate privileges to administrator by communicating over Cross-Process Communication (XPC) while masquerading as an Apple-signed process.

Weakness: CWE-327 (Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm), CWE-287 (Improper Authentication), CWE-285 (Improper Authorization), CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-78236?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-78236?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-78236 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-78236 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-78236 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-78236 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-78236 is a high-severity vulnerability in Admin By Request (ABR), published on 26 Aug 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-2026-78236 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Admin By Request (ABR). 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-2026-78236/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-78236/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-78236
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-78236
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-78236

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-78236/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.