CVE-2024-51481
Nix allows macOS sandbox escape via built-in builders
Nix is a package manager for Linux and other Unix systems. On macOS, built-in builders (such as builtin:fetchurl, exposed to users with import <nix/fetchurl.nix>) were not executed in the macOS sandbox. Thus, these builders (which are running under the nixbld* users) had read access to world-readable paths and write access to world-writable paths outside of the sandbox. This issue is fixed in 2.18.9, 2.19.7, 2.20.9, 2.21.5, 2.22.4, 2.23.4, and 2.24.10. Note that sandboxing is not enabled by default on macOS. The Nix sandbox is not primarily intended as a security mechanism, but as an aid to improve reproducibility and purity of Nix builds. However, sandboxing can mitigate the impact of other security issues by limiting what parts of the host system a build has access to.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- Passive
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Nix allows macOS sandbox escape via built-in builders
Nix is a package manager for Linux and other Unix systems. On macOS, built-in builders (such as builtin:fetchurl, exposed to users with import <nix/fetchurl.nix>) were not executed in the macOS sandbox. Thus, these builders (which are running under the nixbld* users) had read access to world-readable paths and write access to world-writable paths outside of the sandbox. This issue is fixed in 2.18.9, 2.19.7, 2.20.9, 2.21.5, 2.22.4, 2.23.4, and 2.24.10. Note that sandboxing is not enabled by default on macOS. The Nix sandbox is not primarily intended as a security mechanism, but as an aid to improve reproducibility and purity of Nix builds. However, sandboxing can mitigate the impact of other security issues by limiting what parts of the host system a build has access to.
- Record
CVE-2024-51481- CVSS 4.0
- 1.0 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N - Weakness
- CWE-693
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2024-45355
Nix is a package manager for Linux and other Unix systems. On macOS, built-in builders (such as builtin:fetchurl, exposed to users with import <nix/fetchurl.nix>) were not executed in the macOS sandbox. Thus, these builders (which are running under the nixbld* users) had read access to world-readable paths and write access to world-writable paths outside of the sandbox. This issue is fixed in 2.18.9, 2.19.7, 2.20.9, 2.21.5, 2.22.4, 2.23.4, and 2.24.10. Note that sandboxing is not enabled by default on macOS. The Nix sandbox is not primarily intended as a security mechanism, but as an aid to improve reproducibility and purity of Nix builds. However, sandboxing can mitigate the impact of other security issues by limiting what parts of the host system a build has access to.
- Record
EUVD-2024-45355- CVSS 4.0
- 1.0 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
NVD
Nix is a package manager for Linux and other Unix systems. On macOS, built-in builders (such as builtin:fetchurl, exposed to users with import <nix/fetchurl.nix>) were not executed in the macOS sandbox. Thus, these builders (which are running under the nixbld* users) had read access to world-readable paths and write access to world-writable paths outside of the sandbox. This issue is fixed in 2.18.9, 2.19.7, 2.20.9, 2.21.5, 2.22.4, 2.23.4, and 2.24.10. Note that sandboxing is not enabled by default on macOS. The Nix sandbox is not primarily intended as a security mechanism, but as an aid to improve reproducibility and purity of Nix builds. However, sandboxing can mitigate the impact of other security issues by limiting what parts of the host system a build has access to.
- Record
CVE-2024-51481- CVSS 4.0
- 1.0 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - Weakness
- CWE-693
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
Nix allows macOS sandbox escape via built-in builders
Nix is a package manager for Linux and other Unix systems. On macOS, built-in builders (such as builtin:fetchurl, exposed to users with import <nix/fetchurl.nix>) were not executed in the macOS sandbox. Thus, these builders (which are running under the nixbld* users) had read access to world-readable paths and write access to world-writable paths outside of the sandbox. This issue is fixed in 2.18.9, 2.19.7, 2.20.9, 2.21.5, 2.22.4, 2.23.4, and 2.24.10. Note that sandboxing is not enabled by default on macOS. The Nix sandbox is not primarily intended as a security mechanism, but as an aid to improve reproducibility and purity of Nix builds. However, sandboxing can mitigate the impact of other security issues by limiting what parts of the host system a build has access to.
- Record
CVE-2024-51481- CVSS 4.0
- 1.0 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N - Weakness
- CWE-693
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2024-51481 is a low vulnerability (CVSS 1.0) in Nixos Nix, published October 31, 2024. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.17%, the 6th percentile. No source names a fixed version.