CVE-2026-40191

Received Received - Intake

Path Validation Bypass in ClearanceKit Enables Unauthorized File Access

Publication date: 2026-04-10

Last updated on: 2026-04-10

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description

ClearanceKit intercepts file-system access events on macOS and enforces per-process access policies. Prior to 5.0.4-beta-1f46165, ClearanceKit's Endpoint Security event handler only checked the source path of dual-path file operations against File Access Authorization (FAA) rules and App Jail policies. The destination path was ignored entirely. This allowed any local process to bypass file-access protection by using rename, link, copyfile, exchangedata, or clone operations to place or replace files inside protected directories. This vulnerability is fixed in 5.0.4-beta-1f46165.

CVSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-04-10

Last Modified

2026-04-10

Generated

2026-07-06

AI Q&A

2026-04-11

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-05

NVD

CVE-2026-40191

EUVD

EUVD-2026-21595

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
clearancekit	clearancekit	to 5.0.4-beta-1f46165 (inc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-863	The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists in ClearanceKit versions prior to 5.0.4-beta-1f46165 on macOS. ClearanceKit intercepts file-system access events and enforces access policies per process. However, its Endpoint Security event handler only checked the source path of dual-path file operations against access rules and policies, completely ignoring the destination path.

Because the destination path was not checked, a local process could bypass file-access protections by using operations such as rename, link, copyfile, exchangedata, or clone to place or replace files inside protected directories.

This flaw allowed unauthorized modification or placement of files in protected areas, which was fixed in version 5.0.4-beta-1f46165.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can allow a local attacker or process with limited privileges to bypass file-access protections and place or replace files inside directories that are supposed to be protected.

Such unauthorized file modifications could lead to data integrity issues, unauthorized code execution, or compromise of system security by placing malicious files in sensitive locations.

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, you should upgrade ClearanceKit to version 5.0.4-beta-1f46165 or later, where the issue has been fixed.

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