CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2019-5011 — An exploitable privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the helper service CleanMyMac X, version 4.20, due to improper updating
An exploitable privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the helper service CleanMyMac X, version 4.20, due to improper updating. The application failed to remove the vulnerable components upon upgrading to the latest version, leaving the user open to attack. A user with local access can use this vulnerability to modify the file system as root. An attacker would need local access to the machine for a successful exploit.
- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.1 (3.0)
- Published
- 2019-03-21
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- software/application
- Weaknesses
- CWE-459
Affected products
- macpaw / cleanmymac_x / 4.20
Matched remediation archetype
Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management
This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.
Check exposure
- Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
- Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
- Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.
Remediate safely
- Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
- Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
- Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.
Authoritative sources
Complete CVE record and remediation plan
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