CVE-2024-11468

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-11468 is a Local Privilege Escalation (LPE) vulnerability in Omnissa Horizon Client for macOS. The flaw exists in the installation process, allowing an attacker with user-level privileges to escalate to root. With a CVSS score of 7.8, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to systems running the affected client, as it can lead to full system compromise. No public exploit code or patch details are currently available, but the risk is elevated due to the potential for local privilege escalation.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 7.8 (High)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
• Attack Vector: Local (AV:L) – Requires local access to the system.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – No special conditions needed.
• Privileges Required: Low (PR:L) – Attacker needs user-level access.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – No user action required.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – Impact remains within the same security authority.
• Confidentiality Impact: High (C:H) – Full read access to system data.
• Integrity Impact: High (I:H) – Full write access to system files.
• Availability Impact: High (A:H) – Potential for system denial of service.

Threat Level: High. Local privilege escalation vulnerabilities are often targeted in post-exploitation scenarios, allowing attackers to gain root access and persist on the system.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the installation process of Omnissa Horizon Client for macOS. During installation, the installer may set insecure permissions on files, directories, or launch daemons, or it may execute privileged operations with insufficient validation. An attacker with user-level access can exploit this by manipulating the installation process or leveraging insecure file permissions to execute arbitrary code with root privileges.

Root Cause: The installation process does not properly restrict permissions or validate the integrity of components, allowing a local user to replace or modify files that are later executed with elevated privileges.

Attack Vector: Local access to the macOS system. The attacker must have a user account on the machine.

Prerequisites: The attacker must have user-level access to the target macOS system. No other special conditions are required.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

No specific code snippets are available for this CVE. However, the vulnerability likely involves insecure file permissions or improper privilege handling during installation.

Vulnerable Behavior: The installer creates files or directories with world-writable permissions, or it executes scripts with root privileges without verifying the integrity of the files.

Patched Behavior: The installer should set restrictive permissions (e.g., 755 for directories, 644 for files) and verify the integrity of all components before execution.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Exploitation Steps:

1. Gain user-level access to the target macOS system.
2. Identify insecure files or directories created by the Horizon Client installer (e.g., /Library/Application Support/Omnissa/Horizon Client/).
3. Replace a legitimate file with a malicious payload (e.g., a script or binary).
4. Trigger the execution of the malicious file (e.g., by restarting the service or waiting for a scheduled task).
5. The malicious file executes with root privileges, granting full system control.

Example Payload (bash script):

#!/bin/bash
# Malicious payload to create a root backdoor
echo "root:newpassword" | chpasswd

Lab Setup:

• macOS virtual machine with Horizon Client installed.
• User-level account for the attacker.
• Monitor file permissions and execution flow.

Blue Team

Detection Steps:

1. Monitor file permission changes in critical directories (e.g., /Library/Application Support/).
2. Alert on unauthorized modifications to Horizon Client files.
3. Use endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to track process execution chains.
4. Review system logs for unusual privilege escalation attempts.

Hunting Queries:

• Search for processes spawned by the Horizon Client installer with unexpected parent processes.
• Look for file writes to protected directories by non-root users.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File Hashes: (None available)
• File Paths:
  • /Library/Application Support/Omnissa/Horizon Client/
  • /tmp/horizon_installer_*
• Process Names:
  • HorizonClientInstaller
  • vmware-view
• Network Connections: (None specific)
• Registry/Preferences: (None specific)

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_11468_Horizon_LPE {
    meta:
        description = "Detects potential exploitation of CVE-2024-11468 in Omnissa Horizon Client for macOS"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-17"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-11468"
    strings:
        $s1 = "/Library/Application Support/Omnissa/Horizon Client/" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "HorizonClientInstaller" ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = "vmware-view" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        any of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2024-11468 - Omnissa Horizon Client LPE Detection
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects file permission changes or process anomalies related to CVE-2024-11468
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-17
logsource:
    product: macos
    service: system
detection:
    selection:
        EventID: 4  # File creation/modification
        TargetFilename|contains: '/Library/Application Support/Omnissa/Horizon Client/'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate updates to Horizon Client
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert tcp $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2024-11468 - Potential Horizon Client LPE Exploit"; flow:to_server; content:"/Library/Application Support/Omnissa/Horizon Client/"; nocase; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Restrict user permissions on the system to limit local access.
2. Monitor file integrity in the Horizon Client installation directory.
3. Apply the principle of least privilege to all user accounts.

Long-Term Fix:

• Await an official patch from Omnissa. Once available, update Horizon Client to the latest version.
• Consider using application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized executables.

Workarounds:

• Remove the Horizon Client if not essential.
• Use macOS security features like System Integrity Protection (SIP) and FileVault.

Valters IT Signature:
This report was generated by Valters IT DevSecOps AI. Always validate findings in a controlled environment.