Vulnerabilities · 81 days ago

Standard Mac Users Can Silence Endpoint Defenses

A low-privilege macOS foothold can now mute the tools meant to watch it. The gap is in trust handling: once macOS has cached an app’s identity, a standard user can make a privileged helper accept a request as if it came from trusted vendor code, then carry out admin-only actions without admin rights or a kernel exploit.

XM Cyber showed the issue by disabling CrowdStrike Falcon and Kandji on macOS through this path, and said the same pattern can apply to other apps that expose privileged XPC services. The affected boundary is the one many security and MDM agents rely on to install components, reach telemetry, or unload protections.

The practical risk is telemetry loss after user compromise. On fleets that depend on privileged XPC helpers, a normal account takeover can become a blind spot instead of staying contained inside the endpoint.

CVE-2026-39118

NVD KEV

CVSS 8.4 HIGH: an issue in Iru, Inc Kandji Agent before v.4.7.5(5374) allows a local attacker to escalate privileges via a client… EPSS 0.1% (2nd percentile).

Timeline

Jun 25 Reported by Infosecurity Magazine
Jun 24 Reported by SecurityWeek

Sources

3 sources covering this story

Infosecurity Magazine Jun 25
macOS Flaw Lets Standard Users Disable EDR and MDM
macos-xpc-flaw-disable-edr-mdm-standard-user-xm-cyber
SecurityWeek Jun 24
macOS Weaknesses Chained to Silently Disable Endpoint Security Agents
A standard non-admin account is sufficient to conduct an attack that exploits legitimate OS behavior rather than software vulnerabilities.
Dark Reading Jun 24
Apple's MacOS Gap Lets Users Disable Security Tools
Attackers can exploit the issue to disable security and integrated browser tools without needing administrator privileges or kernel exploits.

Entities

CVE-2026-39118

Part of the PlainSec briefing for 2026-06-26

Editions

Vulnerabilities · 81 days agoStandard Mac Users Can Silence Endpoint DefensesA low-privilege macOS foothold can now mute the tools meant to watch it. The gap is in trust handling: once macOS has cached an app’s identity, a standard user can make a privileged helper accept a request as if it came from trusted vendor code, then carry out admin-only actions without admin rights or a kernel exploit.XM Cyber showed the issue by disabling CrowdStrike Falcon and Kandji on macOS through this path, and said the same pattern can apply to other apps that expose privileged XPC services. The affected boundary is the one many security and MDM agents rely on to install components, reach telemetry, or unload protections.The practical risk is telemetry loss after user compromise. On fleets that depend on privileged XPC helpers, a normal account takeover can become a blind spot instead of staying contained inside the endpoint.

CVE-2026-39118

NVD KEV

CVSS 8.4 HIGH: an issue in Iru, Inc Kandji Agent before v.4.7.5(5374) allows a local attacker to escalate privileges via a client… EPSS 0.1% (2nd percentile).