CVE-2018-4034
Description
The CleanMyMac X software contains an exploitable privilege escalation vulnerability that exists due to improper input validation. An attacker with local access could use this vulnerability to modify the file system as root.
AI Insight
LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.
CleanMyMac X 4.04 has a privilege escalation vulnerability in its privileged helper tool due to improper input validation, allowing local attackers to delete system files as root.
Vulnerability
The vulnerability exists in the removeItemAtPath function of the CleanMyMac X privileged helper tool (version 4.04). The helper runs as root but does not validate the calling application, allowing any app to invoke the function and delete arbitrary files on the file system. This is due to improper input validation (CWE-19) [1].
Exploitation
An attacker with local access (no authentication required, privilege not required, user interaction not required) can craft an application that calls the privileged helper's removeItemAtPath function with a path argument pointing to a system file. The helper runs as root, so the file is deleted without any checks [1].
Impact
Successful exploitation allows the attacker to delete arbitrary files as root, leading to a denial of service or system instability. The CVSSv3 score is 7.1 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N) indicating high impact on integrity [1].
Mitigation
The vendor, MacPaw, was disclosed on 2018-11-09 and a fix was expected by 2018-12-27 according to the timeline. Users should update CleanMyMac X to a version later than 4.04. No workaround is provided [1].
AI Insight generated on May 26, 2026. Synthesized from this CVE's description and the cited reference URLs; citations are validated against the source bundle.
Affected products
1Patches
0No patches discovered yet.
Vulnerability mechanics
Root cause
"Missing validation of the calling application in the privileged helper's XPC protocol allows any local process to invoke the root-level file deletion function."
Attack vector
An attacker with local access can call the `removeItemAtPath` XPC method exposed by the privileged helper tool, which runs as root. Because there is no validation of the calling application, any local process can invoke this function and supply an arbitrary file path. The helper then deletes the specified file as root, allowing a non-root attacker to remove arbitrary files from the root file system [ref_id=1].
Affected code
The vulnerability is in the `removeItemAtPath` function of the CleanMyMac X privileged helper tool's XPC protocol. The helper tool runs as root, and the function at location [0] calls `removeFileAtPath:error:` with a user-supplied path argument (`arg_3`) without any validation of the calling application [ref_id=1].
What the fix does
The advisory states that the vendor patched the vulnerability on 2018-12-27, but the patch diff is not included in the bundle [ref_id=1]. The remediation would require adding proper authorization checks in the privileged helper's XPC service so that only the legitimate CleanMyMac X application (or properly signed/entitled callers) can invoke the `removeItemAtPath` function, preventing arbitrary local applications from deleting files as root.
Preconditions
- networkAttacker must have local access to the macOS system
- configThe CleanMyMac X privileged helper tool must be installed and running
Generated on May 25, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.
References
1- www.talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2018-0707mitrex_refsource_MISC
News mentions
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