Vulnerability · Published Aug 1, 2025 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2025-54595Pearcleaner's unauthenticated access to privileged XPC helper allows root command execution
High 7.3
In plain English
A high-severity OS command injection in Pearcleaner from alienator88. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 10% of all known vulnerabilities).
Official description
Pearcleaner is a free, source-available and fair-code licensed mac app cleaner. The PearcleanerHelper is a privileged helper tool bundled with the Pearcleaner application. It is registered and activated only after the user approves a system prompt to allow privileged operations. Upon approval, the helper is configured as a LaunchDaemon and runs with root privileges. In versions 4.4.0 through 4.5.1, the helper registers an XPC service (com.alienator88.Pearcleaner.PearcleanerHelper) and accepts unauthenticated connections from any local process. It exposes a method that executes arbitrary shell commands. This allows any local unprivileged user to escalate privileges to root once the helper is approved and active. This issue is fixed in version 4.5.2.
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| alienator88 | Pearcleaner | >= 4.4.0, < 4.5.2 |
Weakness: CWE-78, CWE-269 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- https://github.com/alienator88/Pearcleaner/security/advisories/GHSA-gr2j-65fh-8pvc x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/alienator88/Pearcleaner/issues/278 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/alienator88/Pearcleaner/commit/69afadfa95791cb998118ca35c227007b230b984 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/alienator88/Pearcleaner/releases/tag/4.5.2 x_refsource_MISC