Bypassing TCC Protection in macOS: User Data at Risk

Apple’s macOS operating system is known for one of the strongest mechanisms for protecting user privacy — the Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) system. This mechanism restricts applications from accessing the microphone, camera, documents, screen recordings, and other sensitive data without the user’s consent.

However, a newly discovered vulnerability has caused serious concern, as it allows the complete bypass of the TCC protection.

Vulnerability Details

The vulnerability is registered under CVE-2025-43530 and is associated with VoiceOver, the accessibility service designed for visually impaired users. Because VoiceOver has extensive system-level privileges, it can access data that regular applications are not permitted to access.

The issue arises specifically through the ScreenReader.framework and the private MIG service com.apple.scrod. While this service is considered trusted by Apple, flaws in the verification mechanism allow attackers to exploit it illegally.

How the Attack Works

The vulnerability can be exploited using two main techniques:

  1. Loading malicious code into system binaries (dylib injection).
    macOS’s verification mechanism automatically trusts code signed by Apple. However, the system cannot distinguish between a legitimate Apple process and a compromised one. Critically, administrator privileges are not required for this attack.
  2. TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) attack.
    In this scenario, an application is initially verified as safe, but during the short interval between verification and execution, the attacker modifies the application. As a result, the malicious code runs without any warning.

When combined, these two vulnerabilities allow an attacker to fully bypass the TCC mechanism.

Consequences and Risk Level

If successfully exploited, an attacker could:

  • Read user documents secretly;
  • Access the microphone and camera without permission;
  • Manage the file system through Finder;
  • Send AppleScript and AppleEvents to any application;
  • Gain full control over the system without asking the user for consent.

In practice, this renders macOS TCC protection completely ineffective.

Measures Taken by Apple

Apple addressed the issue in macOS 26.2. The update completely reworked the security verification process:

  • Processes must now have the special entitlement “com.apple.private.accessibility.scrod”;
  • Permissions are verified directly at the process level using an audit token, not via file-based checks;
  • This approach fully mitigates dylib injection and TOCTOU attacks.

Public PoC and Real-World Threat

According to reports by jhftss on GitHub, a working Proof of Concept (PoC) for this vulnerability has already been made public. This significantly increases the likelihood of exploitation in real-world attacks.

Conclusion and Recommendations

CVE-2025-43530 is one of the most dangerous TCC bypasses discovered on the macOS platform in recent years. It directly threatens user privacy and demonstrates that even advanced protection mechanisms require continuous testing and improvement.

🔐 Recommendations for all macOS users:

  • Update immediately to macOS 26.2 or later;
  • Avoid using suspicious applications;
  • Regularly install all system updates.