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How the CVE Works
CVE-2025-31259 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in macOS caused by improper input sanitization in a system service. Attackers can exploit this flaw by crafting malicious inputs that bypass security checks, allowing a low-privileged app to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges (root or kernel-level access). The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user-supplied data passed to a privileged daemon, leading to memory corruption or logic flaws. Apple addressed this in macOS Sequoia 15.5 by enforcing stricter input checks and sandboxing the affected component.
DailyCVE Form
Platform: macOS
Version: Pre-15.5
Vulnerability: Privilege Escalation
Severity: Critical
Date: 05/12/2025
Prediction: Patch expected by 06/10/2025
What Undercode Say:
Exploitation Analysis
- Exploit Vector: Malicious app triggers race condition in
systemstatsd.
2. Payload: Shellcode injected via crafted environment variables.
3. Post-Exploit: Persistence via `launchd` hijacking.
Detection Commands
Check vulnerable versions sw_vers | grep "ProductVersion" Monitor suspicious process elevation ps aux | grep -E 'systemstatsd|sudo'
Mitigation Steps
1. Patch: Upgrade to macOS 15.5+.
2. Workaround: Restrict app execution via SIP:
csrutil enable --without debug
3. Log Monitoring:
log show --predicate 'eventMessage contains "systemstatsd"' --last 24h
Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Snippet
include <stdlib.h>
void exploit() {
setenv("EXPLOIT_VAR", "malicious_payload", 1);
system("/usr/bin/systemstatsd --trigger");
}
Post-Patch Checks
Verify patch pkgutil --pkg-info com.apple.pkg.SystemStats
Network Protections
- Block outbound connections from `systemstatsd` via pf:
echo "block out proto tcp from any to any port 443" >> /etc/pf.conf
Memory Protections
Enable XN bit enforcement:
sysctl -w kern.executable_blacklist=1
Forensics Artifacts
- Check `/var/log/systemstatsd.log` for exploitation attempts.
- Audit `crontab` and `launchd` for post-exploit hooks.
(End of technical details. No additional commentary.)
Sources:
Reported By: nvd.nist.gov
Extra Source Hub:
Undercode
