Researchers Demonstrate First Public macOS Kernel Exploit on Apple M5 Systems

Security researchers have developed the first publicly disclosed macOS kernel exploit targeting Apple’s M5 silicon, successfully bypassing the company’s hardware-based Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE) protections on macOS 26.4.1. The exploit chain, created by researchers Calif, Bruce Dang, Dion Blazakis, and Josh Maine, enables a local unprivileged user to gain full root access using standard system calls while MIE remains active. Researchers said the vulnerabilities were identified and weaponized within five days with assistance from Anthropic’s Mythos Preview AI model, highlighting the growing role of AI in advanced offensive security research. The findings raise concerns about the future effectiveness of hardware security mitigations as AI-assisted vulnerability discovery and exploit development continue to accelerate.

Reference: cybersecuritynews.com