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Major macOS High Sierra Bug Allows Full Admin Access Without Password - How to Fix [Updated]

olafriis said:
I noticed the same. FileVault enabled it wasn't possible but on a Mac without FileVault worked fine on a second try. Same for others?
Click to expand...

With FileVault the System Preferences one works for me all the time, but the lock screen version is not available before some valid user decrypts FileVault and logs out. So at least you can't walk into a FileVault-enabled machine straight after it starts up.
 
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JLL said:
Or open /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/Directory Utility

Disable the root user in the Edit menu.
Click to expand...

Disabling the root user from within Directory Utility doesn't fix the issue, one can still go back to System Preferences and trigger the bug again.
 
SqB said:
Incorrect. You can use this trick from a non-admin account. This is basically giving root access to any user account (even guest), which is honestly the least troublesome piece of this cluster.
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Does a fresh/default install of OSX have the "guest" account turned on by default?
 
JosephAW said:
Not true, you can access the manual login screen:
PensDevil user says:

"Select the option to show a list of Users to choose from at the login screen. When that screen appears, press the down arrow once to highlite whatever user happens to show up. Next, hold down the "Option" key and press "Return". The login screen should ow prompt you for a user name and password"
Click to expand...

Luckily I couldn't get to the manual login screen when FileVault hasn't been decrypted yet (i.e. straight after a boot). Once FileVault has been decrypted it's a whole another ballgame, though.
 
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Another Tim Cook quality control disaster. This man’s talent has no beginning.
 
foxlet said:
Unfortunately, I just managed to get it to work on a separate machine running the retail 10.13 (17A365) release, so it might predate 10.13.1, although with a lower chance of success?
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I seem to recall that Apple made a change to the System Preferences authentication early on in the High Sierra betas, so that it no longer uses the native MacOS prompt that pops up outside of the app. The bug has likely existed ever since in every release version of High Sierra.
 
Tried it on three different machines, starting from admin, non-admin, and the guest account. Can't repro. All are running 10.13.2 beta (17C79a)
 
redheeler said:
I seem to recall that Apple made a change to the System Preferences authentication early on in the High Sierra betas, so that it no longer uses the native MacOS prompt that pops up outside of the app. The bug has likely existed ever since in every release version of High Sierra.
Click to expand...
I tried in Sierra (10.12.6), and the bug is not there. So yeah, another high Sierra special.
 
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Doesn't Apple have some kind of reward system for someone reporting a security bug so it can be fixed before the general public find out?
 
Not defending it however you can trivially ready an admin
Password on a Windows PC with a simple boot disk which is normal behaviour...
 
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