CVE-2022-26746: 
macOS vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2022-26746 is a security vulnerability in Apple's macOS operating systems that was disclosed and patched in May 2022. The vulnerability affects macOS Catalina, macOS Big Sur, and macOS Monterey operating systems. This privacy-related security flaw could allow a malicious application to bypass Privacy preferences (Apple Security, Apple Big Sur, Apple Monterey).

The vulnerability exists in the Printing component of macOS. The issue was addressed by Apple by removing the vulnerable code that allowed unauthorized access to privacy settings. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 Base Score of 5.5 (MEDIUM) with the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N, indicating local access is required with user interaction (NVD).

If exploited, this vulnerability could allow a malicious application to bypass the operating system's Privacy preferences, potentially gaining unauthorized access to protected user data and system resources (Apple Security).

The vulnerability requires local access and user interaction to be exploited. The attacker would need to convince a user to run a malicious application that could then bypass privacy controls (NVD).

Apple has addressed this vulnerability in Security Update 2022-004 Catalina, macOS Monterey 12.4, and macOS Big Sur 11.6.6. Users are advised to update their systems to these versions or later to protect against this vulnerability (Apple Security, Apple Big Sur, Apple Monterey).

The vulnerability was discovered and reported by security researcher @gorelics, who was credited by Apple in their security advisory (Apple Security).