If you have a Macbook or any device that runs macOS, you were in danger and you didn't even know it. A bug was discovered – and already corrected by Apple – in the security of the operating system.
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The flaw, tracked as CVE-2022-42821, allowed malicious apps to bypass macOS security. This vulnerability bypasses the operating system's Gatekeeper protections.
However, this is not the first time that Apple has introduced security flaws in its operating system. In April 2021, the apple company also fixed a flaw that allowed Shlayer malware to bypass Gatekeeper.
What is Gatekeeper and how does it secure macOS?
Introduced to the operating system for the first time in 2012, Gatekeeper is designed to allow that only trusted software – or at least from trusted developers – would run on the macOS. It does this “criminal background check” automatically on all downloaded apps.
discovered failure
The first person to notice Apple's operating system flaw by Jonathan Bar Or, principal security researcher at Apple's competitor, Microsoft. In a post on the Windows company blog, he explained that macOS performs a kind of “quarantine” with apps downloaded from a browser, before checking.
Malicious apps use a file permissions model called Access Control Lists. Thus, it adds restrictive permissions to the file. In this way, they prevent the downloaded content from entering the “quarantine” of the Gatekeeper.
Microsoft reported the flaw in the security system in July, but the bug was only fixed in early December.
palliative solutions
Lockdown Mode, a feature of appleimplemented earlier this year, it can help users block cyber attacks. However, it did not protect users from the newly discovered flaw.
Source: Yahoo News
Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.