Executive brief
Slate Digital Connect, a macOS application used to manage audio plugin installations and licenses, contains a security flaw in its background maintenance tool. This flaw allows a malicious user or program already on the computer to trick the system into granting them administrative (root) privileges. If exploited, an attacker could gain full control over the Mac, potentially accessing sensitive data or installing persistent malware.
Technical details
The Slate Digital Connect macOS application installs a privileged helper tool (com.slatedigital.connect.privileged.helper.tool) that exposes an XPC service. The helper's 'isValidClient' function performs insufficient validation of connecting clients by only checking the 'subject.OU' field of the client's signing certificate. Crucially, it fails to verify that the certificate chains to a trusted authority like Apple. A local attacker can generate a self-signed certificate with the required Organizational Unit (OU) value, sign a malicious binary, and successfully connect to the XPC service to execute commands with root privileges. As of June 2026, no patch is available.
Affected products
- Slate Digital Connect 1.37.0
Timeline
- 2026-01-09: other: Vulnerability discovered by SEC Consult
- 2026-01-21: other: Initial vendor contact attempt
- 2026-06-10: disclosed: Public disclosure by SEC Consult
- 2026-06-10: advisory: CVE-2026-24066 published