CVE-2024-44236: Stealthy macOS Exploit Leveraging Color Profile Parsing
A serious flaw lurking within macOS’s native image processing tool has been exposed—offering attackers a pathway to remotely execute code on a victim’s machine. Tracked as CVE-2024-44236, the vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS severity rating of 7.8, underlining its potential impact.
Discovered by security researcher Hossein Lotfi (@hosselot) from Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative, this vulnerability resides in macOS’s “sips” (Scriptable Image Processing System)—a terminal-based utility commonly used for manipulating image files.
The issue lies in the way sips handles ICC (International Color Consortium) profiles, which define how color data should be interpreted across devices. Specifically, the vulnerability involves an out-of-bounds write triggered during parsing of certain ICC tag types—lutAToBType and lutBToAType—used for color conversion.
Under the hood, the vulnerable code resides in the function sub_1000194D0(), which fails to properly verify the Offset to CLUT field. This misstep opens the door to memory corruption when a maliciously crafted ICC file is processed, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution or forcing apps to crash unexpectedly.
Apple addressed this issue in updates macOS Ventura 13.7.1, Sonoma 14.7.1, and Sequoia 15.1, rolled out on October 28, 2024, by reinforcing bounds checking mechanisms. The company’s bulletin confirms:
“An out-of-bounds access issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. Processing a maliciously crafted file may lead to unexpected app termination.”
Why It Matters
This exploit exemplifies how deeply embedded system tools—especially those trusted and rarely scrutinized—can become vectors for serious threats. As ICC profiles are standard in design, photography, and digital publishing workflows, a poisoned file could easily blend into normal usage.
Color Profiles as Attack Vectors: Exploiting a Hidden Weakness in macOS Memory Handling
In a subtle yet dangerous flaw within macOS’s color management system, attackers can push the system beyond its memory boundaries—literally. The vulnerability hinges on a key detail: the “Offset to CLUT” field in ICC profiles. If set precisely to the end of the tagged element data, this offset tricks the system into reading 16 bytes beyond the allocated memory buffer, potentially allowing attackers to tamper with adjacent memory.
According to Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative, this unsafe memory access arises from a lack of bounds enforcement in macOS’s image processing routine. The system fails to properly confirm that the offset remains within a safe range—leaving it open to overflow conditions.
The vulnerability is scored with the following vector:
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H,
highlighting that while it requires user interaction (such as opening a file), no system privileges are necessary—yet the impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is severe.
How Attackers Could Weaponize It
To pull off an exploit, an attacker would need to design a custom ICC file engineered to trigger the vulnerability. The final step? Getting the user to open or process that file—a task that can be accomplished in more ways than most users expect.
Delivery methods are broad and varied:
From classic email attachments and malicious web links, to file transfer channels like FTP, NFS, or SMB, even cloud-based file-sharing or synchronization platforms could be used to deliver the payload.
A Hidden Risk in Trusted Files
Because ICC profiles are generally associated with harmless image metadata, they often bypass suspicion. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where image files are exchanged regularly—such as media production, publishing, and design workflows.
Mitigation requires updating to the latest macOS releases where this flaw has been resolved. For users and administrators alike, now is the time to patch—and rethink how even the most mundane file types can pose unexpected security risks.
Risk Summary
| Category | Information |
|---|---|
| Vulnerable Platforms | macOS Ventura 13.7, Sonoma 14.7, and Sequoia 15.1 |
| Potential Consequences | Remote execution of arbitrary code with user-level privileges |
| Trigger Conditions | Exploitation requires a user to open a specially crafted ICC Profile file |
| Severity Rating (CVSS 3.1) | 6.5 – Medium risk, based on potential impact and exploitability factors |
Protective Measures and Forward Guidance
Apple has resolved the issue by reinforcing its memory boundary safeguards within the image processing subsystem. This enhancement effectively neutralizes the vulnerability by preventing improper memory access during ICC profile parsing.
Immediate action is recommended: Users should ensure their systems are running the most recent macOS updates—Ventura 13.7.1, Sonoma 14.7.1, or Sequoia 15.1—to shield themselves from potential exploitation scenarios.
At the time of this report, no active exploitation has been observed in the wild. However, with technical specifics now publicly accessible, the window for opportunistic abuse is open—making timely patching a top priority.
This case highlights the essential role of proactive security research in surfacing hidden threats before they become real-world attack vectors. Ongoing collaboration between researchers and vendors continues to be a cornerstone of modern digital defense.
