MacOS is known for an additional layer of privacy controls called TCC - Transparency, Consent, and Control that restricts access to sensitive personal resources: documents, camera, microphone, emails, and more. Granting such access requires authorization, and the mechanism's main design concern was clear user consent.

Despite many vulnerabilities in that mechanism found in the past, using 0-days during red teaming engagements is impractical. Apple fixes TCC vulnerabilities but red teams still have to get access to files saved on the victim’s desktop or be able take a screenshot.

What if I tell you that there are many open doors to resolve all the TCC problems that are already installed on your target machines?! Electron apps are everywhere - Microsoft Teams, Slack, Discord, Github Desktop, Visual Studio Code… And you probably heard the joke that: ‘S’ in Electron stands for security.

In this talk I will share a new tool that, by abusing Electron default configuration, allows executing code in the context of those Electron apps and thus inherit their TCC permissions. It’s a technique that doesn’t touch files of those apps so it also bypasses the new macOS Ventura App Protection mechanism.

The audience will leave with a solid understanding of the macOS privacy restrictions framework (TCC) and its weaknesses. The part of the audience interested in macOS red teaming will also get to know my new, free and open source tool. Blue teams on the stage will also see some ideas regarding detections.