// For flags

CVE-2024-51481

Nix allows macOS sandbox escape via built-in builders

Severity Score

1.0
*CVSS v4

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

0
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

Track
*SSVC
Descriptions

Nix is a package manager for Linux and other Unix systems. On macOS, built-in builders (such as `builtin:fetchurl`, exposed to users with `import <nix/fetchurl.nix>`) were not executed in the macOS sandbox. Thus, these builders (which are running under the `nixbld*` users) had read access to world-readable paths and write access to world-writable paths outside of the sandbox. This issue is fixed in 2.18.9, 2.19.7, 2.20.9, 2.21.5, 2.22.4, 2.23.4, and 2.24.10. Note that sandboxing is not enabled by default on macOS. The Nix sandbox is not primarily intended as a security mechanism, but as an aid to improve reproducibility and purity of Nix builds. However, sandboxing *can* mitigate the impact of other security issues by limiting what parts of the host system a build has access to.

*Credits: N/A
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Attack Requirements
Present
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
Passive
System
Vulnerable | Subsequent
Confidentiality
Low
Low
Integrity
Low
Low
Availability
None
None
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:Track
Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Tech. Impact
Partial
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2024-10-28 CVE Reserved
  • 2024-10-31 CVE Published
  • 2024-11-01 CVE Updated
  • 2024-11-01 EPSS Updated
  • ---------- Exploited in Wild
  • ---------- KEV Due Date
  • ---------- First Exploit
CWE
  • CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure
CAPEC
Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions
Vendor Product Version Other Status
Vendor Product Version Other Status <-- --> Vendor Product Version Other Status
NixOS
Search vendor "NixOS"
Nix
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix"
< 2.18.9
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix" and version " < 2.18.9"
en
Affected
NixOS
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Nix
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix"
>= 2.19.0 < 2.19.7
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix" and version " >= 2.19.0 < 2.19.7"
en
Affected
NixOS
Search vendor "NixOS"
Nix
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix"
>= 2.20.0 < 2.20.9
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix" and version " >= 2.20.0 < 2.20.9"
en
Affected
NixOS
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Nix
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix"
>= 2.21.0 < 2.21.5
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix" and version " >= 2.21.0 < 2.21.5"
en
Affected
NixOS
Search vendor "NixOS"
Nix
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix"
>= 2.22.0 < 2.22.4
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix" and version " >= 2.22.0 < 2.22.4"
en
Affected
NixOS
Search vendor "NixOS"
Nix
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix"
>= 2.23.0 < 2.23.4
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix" and version " >= 2.23.0 < 2.23.4"
en
Affected
NixOS
Search vendor "NixOS"
Nix
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix"
>= 2.24.0 < 2.24.10
Search vendor "NixOS" for product "Nix" and version " >= 2.24.0 < 2.24.10"
en
Affected