Bug eats into Apple security patch software

The Month of Apple Bugs project has found a flaw in software designed to fix security issues on Apple Macs

The group behind the Month of Apple Bugs (Moab) project has found a flaw in software designed to fix security issues on Apple Macs. 

The vulnerability affects the Application Enhancer (Ape) software, which was designed by a rival group trying to combat the flaws highlighted by Moab.

The bug could allow malicious users on a local system to replace Ape's binary code and take control of the root privileges on a computer.

"Like the previous local exploits, this could be combined with a remote exploit to gain root privileges from an administrator account without user interaction," said Landon Fuller, author of the Ape software, on his blog. 

"There are also a number of alternative exploit conditions that could occur due to the admin-writability of other directories in /Library."

Moab has pledged to uncover a flaw in the Mac operating system or related software every day in January. The project is run by Kevin Finisterre and a former hacker known only as 'LMH'.