Security News > 2021 > April > Apple Patches Security Bypass Vulnerability Impacting Macs With M1 Chip

Apple's latest macOS updates patch three vulnerabilities that can be exploited to bypass security mechanisms, including one that has been exploited in the wild and one that impacts only Macs powered by the M1 chip.

It was reported earlier this week that one of the security holes patched in macOS Big Sur and Catalina has been exploited by a piece of malware known as Shlayer to bypass security mechanisms designed by Apple to protect users against malicious files downloaded from the internet, specifically file quarantine, Gatekeeper and notarization.

The issue was detailed this week by Cedric Owens, the researcher who discovered the bug, Apple security expert Patrick Wardle, who described its root cause and developed a PoC exploit, and Apple device management company Jamf, whose researchers discovered that the Shlayer malware had been exploiting the vulnerability since at least January 2021.

Reguła told SecurityWeek that the vulnerability he found can only be triggered on Macs with the M1 chip.

Sten told SecurityWeek that the vulnerability he discovered is similar to the one that has been exploited in the wild - it can bypass all three security features - but it uses different mechanisms to achieve the same goal.

F-Secure noted in its blog post that applications downloaded from the official App Store are not impacted and apps delivered as macOS installer packages cannot exploit the vulnerability as they contain a certificate that is verified outside of Gatekeeper.

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