Hackers could use your Mac to exploit Microsoft Word security flaws TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. Hackers could use your Mac to exploit Microsoft Word security flaws By Sead Fadilpašić published 14 July 2022 Backward compatibility for Microsoft Word causing trouble (Image credit: Shutterstock) Audio player loading… Microsoft has shed light on a flaw in macOS that, if exploited, could allow threat actors to run arbitrary code, remotely. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2022-26706, enables the circumvention of macOS App Sandbox rules, enabling macros in Word documents to run. For years now, macros have been used by numerous threat actors, to trick people into downloading malware (opens in new tab), or ransomware, on their endpoints. It has gotten to a point when Microsoft decided to disable macros on all files outside the trusted network and to make it quite difficult for the average Word user to enable them. Now, Microsoft is warning that the practice can also be used on MacOS devices, as well: Executing arbitrary commands "Despite the security restrictions imposed by the App Sandbox's rules on applications, it's possible for attackers to bypass the said rules and let malicious codes "escape" the sandbox and execute arbitrary commands on an affected device," the company explained. The flaw was discovered by the Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team and reportedly fixed by Apple on May 16. App Sandbox is a technology embedded in macOS, that manages app access control. As the name suggests, its goal is to contain any potential damage that a malicious app can do, and to safeguard sensitive data. Read more> Microsoft changes its mind on blocking Office macros once again (opens in new tab) > Microsoft has changed its mind about blocking Office macros by default (opens in new tab) > Here's our take on the best antivirus software right now (opens in new tab) The problem starts with Word's backward compatibility. To make sure it works, the app can read or write files with an "~$" refix. By leveraging macOS's Launch Services, to run an open -stdin command on a specially crafted Python file with this prefix, the attacker can bypass the sandbox, Microsoft further explained. This method also allows threat actors to bypass "built-in, baseline security features" in macOS, compromising both system and user data as a result. Microsoft published a proof-of-concept, whose code is so simple that one can simply drop a Python file, with the abovementioned prefix, with arbitrary commands. "Python happily runs our code, and since it's a child process of launchd, it isn't bound to Word's sandbox rules," Microsoft said.These are the best firewalls (opens in new tab) right now Via: BleepingComputer (opens in new tab) Sead Fadilpašić Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he's written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He's also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications. See more Computing news Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to theTechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. MOST POPULARMOST SHARED1The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me2Stop saying Mario doesn't have an accent in The Super Mario Bros. Movie3Google Pixel Tablet is what Apple should've done ages ago4RTX 4090 too expensive? Nvidia resurrects another old favorite5More than one million credit card details leaked online1The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me2iPhone 15 tipped to come with an upgraded 5G chip3If this feature succeeds for Modern Warfare 2, Microsoft can't ignore it4Apple October launches: the new devices we might see this month5The Rings of Power episode 8 trailer feels like one big Sauron misdirect Technology Magazines (opens in new tab)● (opens in new tab)The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviewsFrom$12.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)