Update your Mac: Screen Sharing vulnerability exploited in the wild

The Dutch National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued a warning after being notified of several incidents where a vulnerability in Apple’s Screen Sharing feature was exploited to install Monero cryptominers . The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-65400 , was patched by Apple on August 6. It is an authentication-bypass flaw in macOS Screen Sharing that can let an attacker on the network connect without valid credentials. macOS’s built-in Screen Sharing service is a remote-control feature commonly associated with port 5900. Successful exploitation can allow a remote attacker on a reachable network to authenticate to the service without legitimate credentials. Apple said the bug was fixed through “improved state management,” which suggests an authentication-flow or session-state validation failure rather than a cryptographic break. The patch was issued for macOS Tahoe 26.6.1, Sequoia 15.7.9, and Sonoma 14.8.9. Practical exposure requires Screen Sharing to be enabled, so the highest-risk systems are those where port 5900 is internet-accessible, typically through a router port-forward, public IP assignment, or hosting-provider setup. Hosts reachable only from an internal network are still potentially exposed, but attackers would have to gain a position on that network. An attacker could view and control the Mac remotely because that is the function Screen Sharing provides. NCSC says active cases involved attackers gaining root access and installing cryptomining software, specifically for Monero mining. The criminals likely chose Monero mining because it does not depend on heavily specialized, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), but can be done with any CPU or GPU. Cryptomining isn’t necessarily the worst an attacker could do. With a root-level compromise an attacker could enable persistence, data theft, credential and key harvesting, deployment of additional malware, and lateral movement. How to stay safe Install the update The best way to protect your Mac is to install the update. To update macOS on any supported Mac, use the Software Update feature, which Apple designed to work consistently across all recent versions. Here are the steps: Click the Apple menu in the upper-left corner of your screen. Choose System Settings (or System Preferences on older versions). Select General in the sidebar, then click Software Update on the right. On older macOS, just look for Software Update directly. Your Mac will check for updates automatically. If updates are available, click Update Now (or Upgrade Now for major new versions) and follow the on-screen instructions. Before you upgrade to macOS Tahoe 26, please read these instructions . Enter your administrator password if prompted, then let your Mac finish the update (it might need to restart during this process). Make sure your Mac stays plugged in and connected to the internet until the update is done. Make sure Screen Sharing is disabled If you can’t update immediately, check whether Screen Sharing is enabled and turn it off if you don’t use it. Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen. Select System Settings . In the left sidebar, click General . Click Sharing on the right; you may need to scroll down. Find Screen Sharing : If the switch is off/grey , it is disabled. If the switch is on/colored , click it to switch it off . Also check Remote Management on that same Sharing page. It provides another remote-control route and should be off unless the owner knowingly uses it for work or IT support. Macs need protection too Malwarebytes Premium Security for Mac stops threats and protects your Mac and personal files from hackers and cybercriminals. About the author Was a Microsoft MVP in consumer security for 12 years running. Can speak four languages. Smells of rich mahogany and leather-bound books.