Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

Title is a little generous about "hidden", the exploit revolves around API & Framework used to power the parts of the control panel, and its authorization scheme being broken.

I do think its too bad that setuid binaries don't have additional restrictions, like 100% must be code-signed or must be run in a sandbox-exec[1] based on that signing.

[1] - https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin...

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#5

Post by Osiris » Thu, Apr 09, 2015, 3:01 PM UTC

percept wrote: post #3

Related to this, how have people found running Yosemite compared to Mavericks, performance and compatibility-wise? Are you sorry you upgraded? (I'm asking for a friend.)

I upgraded. I haven't had any problems that I wasn't already having in Mavericks (Anyone else have kernel panics when sleeping with a thunderbolt monitor attached?).

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#6

Post by Sevrene » Thu, Apr 09, 2015, 3:04 PM UTC

Osiris wrote: post #5

percept wrote: post #3

Related to this, how have people found running Yosemite compared to Mavericks, performance and compatibility-wise? Are you sorry you upgraded? (I'm asking for a friend.)

I upgraded. I haven't had any problems that I wasn't already having in Mavericks (Anyone else have kernel panics when sleeping with a thunderbolt monitor attached?).

Yes! (although minus the thunderbolt monitor)

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#7

Post by jug » Thu, Apr 09, 2015, 3:09 PM UTC

percept wrote: post #3

Related to this, how have people found running Yosemite compared to Mavericks, performance and compatibility-wise? Are you sorry you upgraded? (I'm asking for a friend.)

Among other things upgrading (to 10.10.3) will do, it'll fix the issue in the article.

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#8

Post by Osiris » Thu, Apr 09, 2015, 3:11 PM UTC

Sevrene wrote: post #6

Osiris wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I upgraded. I haven't had any problems that I wasn't already having in Mavericks (Anyone else have kernel panics when sleeping with a thunderbolt monitor attached?).

Yes! (although minus the thunderbolt monitor)

I also have a problem with a Dual-link DVI adapter. If I sleep with it connected, at some point it wakes up and "kernel_task" takes up 100% CPU (all 8 cores) until I put it to sleep and wake it up again. Sucks coming down in the morning and finding my Macbook burning a hole in the desk.

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#9

Post by NathanKP » Thu, Apr 09, 2015, 3:11 PM UTC

Osiris wrote: post #5

percept wrote: post #3

Related to this, how have people found running Yosemite compared to Mavericks, performance and compatibility-wise? Are you sorry you upgraded? (I'm asking for a friend.)

I upgraded. I haven't had any problems that I wasn't already having in Mavericks (Anyone else have kernel panics when sleeping with a thunderbolt monitor attached?).

I haven't had any issues with that, and I have two thunderbolt monitors attached in daisy chain mode.

The only kernel panics I've experienced so far have been Parallels Desktop bugs that crashed the system. I'm regularly stressing my Macbook Pro to the max running vagrant images through Parallel Desktop with full integration tests running inside, and this tends to be pretty effective at finding strange bugs in Parallels Desktop.

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#10

Post by Alex3917 » Thu, Apr 09, 2015, 3:11 PM UTC

percept wrote: post #3

Related to this, how have people found running Yosemite compared to Mavericks, performance and compatibility-wise? Are you sorry you upgraded? (I'm asking for a friend.)

My personal computer is a late 2008 MBP, and Yosemite runs fine on that. It's been upgraded to 8 gigs of ram, and that's enough to smoothly do dev work in vagrant environments.