CVE-2014-4437

Vulnerability

LaunchServices in Apple OS X before 10.10 contains a vulnerability that allows an attacker to bypass intended sandbox restrictions. The issue arises when an application specifies a crafted handler for the Content-Type field of an object. Affected versions include all OS X releases prior to Yosemite (10.10).

Exploitation

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by providing an application that defines a malicious handler for a specific Content-Type. When the system processes an object with that Content-Type, the crafted handler is invoked outside the sandbox. No authentication is required, but user interaction (e.g., opening the application or a file) is likely necessary to trigger the handler.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows the attacker to execute arbitrary code or access resources outside the sandbox, effectively bypassing the security restrictions intended to isolate applications. This can lead to unauthorized data access, system modification, or further compromise of the affected system.

Mitigation

Apple addressed this issue in OS X Yosemite 10.10, released on October 16, 2014 [1]. Users should upgrade to OS X 10.10 or later. No workarounds are documented. This CVE is not listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.