{"id":33463,"date":"2014-11-05T08:48:27","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T16:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/?p=33463"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:56:20","slug":"rootpipe-hacker-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/","title":{"rendered":"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-33469\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rootpipe-600x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Rootpipe flaw in OS X could allow hackers to completely take over your Mac\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rootpipe-600x300.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rootpipe-600x300-150x75.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rootpipe-600x300-300x150.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/>For day-to-day activities on your Mac\u2014such as browsing the web, writing documents or checking your emails\u2014are you using an account with Admin privileges?<\/p>\n<p>I hope not. Because if you are, you&#8217;re putting yourself and the data stored on your computer at greater risk.<\/p>\n<p>The risk is borne out by a newly discovered vulnerability in some versions of OS X (including the newly-released 10.10 Yosemite) that could allow a hacker to take complete control of your iMac or MacBook.<\/p>\n<p>Swedish security researcher, Emil Kvarnhammar, calls the as-yet-unpatched privilege escalation bug &#8220;Rootpipe,&#8221; and says that a malicious hacker could gain root access\u2014the highest level of access\u2014without having to know a password. And once an attacker has root access, all bets are off.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Normally there are &#8216;sudo&#8217; password requirements, which work as a barrier, so the admin can&#8217;t gain root access without entering the correct password. However, rootpipe circumvents this,&#8221; Kvarnhammar was <a title=\"Link to media report\" href=\"http:\/\/www.macworld.co.uk\/news\/mac-software\/swedish-hacker-finds-serious-vulnerability-in-os-x-yosemite-3583723\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">reported<\/a> as saying.<\/p>\n<p>A YouTube video\u2014with a decidedly funky beat\u2014shows the vulnerability in action:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"OSX 10.10 hack - privilege escalation through rootpipe\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fCQg2I_pFDk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Obviously this is a serious security hole, and eyes will be turning towards Cupertino in the hope that it will be fixed quickly.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that Kvarnhammar believes in responsible disclosure, and has not released details of how to exploit the vulnerability. If such details were made public there is a very real risk that malicious hackers could take advantage of the flaw, and use it to compromise Macs around the world\u2014stealing information, planting malware, and generally getting up to no good.<\/p>\n<p>Instead the researcher tweeted that the right thing to do was to give Apple time to issue and distribute a patch to vulnerable computers:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Details on the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/rootpipe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#rootpipe<\/a> exploit will be presented, but not now. Let&#39;s just give Apple some time to roll out a patch to affected users.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Emil Kvarnhammar (@emilkvarnhammar) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/emilkvarnhammar\/status\/522646505128480768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 16, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Kvarnhammar reported the vulnerability to Apple, sharing details with the firm&#8217;s developers the day after he discovered the problem. Although Apple has not officially confirmed the flaw, it did agree that he could go public with full details about the vulnerability in January, suggesting that the company is planning to patch it.<\/p>\n<p>It will be interesting to see just how long it takes Apple to push out a patch for what appears to be a serious vulnerability. It will certainly be a shame if it takes until early January for a fix to be rolled out.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-33481\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sys-pref.jpeg\" alt=\"System preferences\" width=\"170\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sys-pref.jpeg 170w, https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sys-pref-150x132.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 170px) 100vw, 170px\" \/>In the meantime, while you&#8217;re waiting, it&#8217;s a good idea to not use a user account with Administrator rights on your Mac unless absolutely necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, make sure that your regular user account has &#8220;Standard&#8221; rights, and <a title=\"Link to Apple support kbase article\" href=\"http:\/\/support.apple.com\/kb\/PH18891\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">create a new account with Admin privileges<\/a> for when that is required.<\/p>\n<p>To create a new user account, and to adjust your existing accounts&#8217; privileges, open <strong>System Preferences<\/strong> and click on <strong>Users &amp; Groups<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For day-to-day activities on your Mac &#8211; such as browsing the web, writing documents or checking your emails &#8211; are you using an account with Admin privileges?<\/p>\n<p>Maybe that&#8217;s not so wise&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":33487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,13,5],"tags":[477,174,168,1624,144],"class_list":["post-33463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-recommended","category-security-privacy","category-security-news","tag-hackers","tag-mac","tag-os-x","tag-rootpipe","tag-vulnerability"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 5.0.2 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For day-to-day activities on your Mac - such as browsing the web, writing documents or checking your emails - are you using an account with Admin privileges? Maybe that&#039;s not so wise...\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Graham Cluley\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO Pro (AIOSEO) 5.0.2\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Mac Security Blog - Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For day-to-day activities on your Mac - such as browsing the web, writing documents or checking your emails - are you using an account with Admin privileges? Maybe that&#039;s not so wise...\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-05T16:48:27+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T12:56:20+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/integogroup\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@IntegoSecurity\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"For day-to-day activities on your Mac - such as browsing the web, writing documents or checking your emails - are you using an account with Admin privileges? Maybe that&#039;s not so wise...\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@IntegoSecurity\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#blogposting\",\"name\":\"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac\",\"headline\":\"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/author\\\/graham-cluley\\\/#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/rootpipe-400x260.jpeg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":200},\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-05T08:48:27-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-08T05:56:20-07:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"commentCount\":5,\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Recommended, Security &amp; Privacy, Security News, Hackers, Mac, OS X, Rootpipe, Vulnerability, Graham Cluley\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/category\\\/security-news\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Security News\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/category\\\/security-news\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Security News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/category\\\/security-news\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/category\\\/security-news\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Security News\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Mac Security Blog\",\"description\":\"Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/logo2.png\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#organizationLogo\",\"width\":122,\"height\":46},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#organizationLogo\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/integogroup\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/IntegoSecurity\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/intego_security\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/IntegoVideo\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/intego\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/author\\\/graham-cluley\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/author\\\/graham-cluley\\\/\",\"name\":\"Graham Cluley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2237317b8942db4407872d4d6f8d61b4aa8f152370c257894dff14ed15a0c7da?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Graham Cluley\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac\",\"description\":\"For day-to-day activities on your Mac - such as browsing the web, writing documents or checking your emails - are you using an account with Admin privileges? Maybe that's not so wise...\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/author\\\/graham-cluley\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/author\\\/graham-cluley\\\/#author\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/rootpipe-400x260.jpeg\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#mainImage\",\"width\":400,\"height\":200},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\\\/#mainImage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-05T08:48:27-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-08T05:56:20-07:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Mac Security Blog\",\"description\":\"Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intego.com\\\/mac-security-blog\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro -->\r\n\t\t<title>Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac<\/title>\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac","description":"For day-to-day activities on your Mac - such as browsing the web, writing documents or checking your emails - are you using an account with Admin privileges? Maybe that's not so wise...","canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#blogposting","name":"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac","headline":"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/author\/graham-cluley\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rootpipe-400x260.jpeg","width":400,"height":200},"datePublished":"2014-11-05T08:48:27-08:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T05:56:20-07:00","inLanguage":"en-US","commentCount":5,"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#webpage"},"articleSection":"Recommended, Security &amp; Privacy, Security News, Hackers, Mac, OS X, Rootpipe, Vulnerability, Graham Cluley"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-news\/#listItem","name":"Security News"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-news\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Security News","item":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-news\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#listItem","name":"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#listItem","position":3,"name":"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-news\/#listItem","name":"Security News"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#organization","name":"The Mac Security Blog","description":"Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/logo2.png","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#organizationLogo","width":122,"height":46},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#organizationLogo"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/integogroup\/","https:\/\/x.com\/IntegoSecurity","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/intego_security\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/IntegoVideo","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/intego"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/author\/graham-cluley\/#author","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/author\/graham-cluley\/","name":"Graham Cluley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2237317b8942db4407872d4d6f8d61b4aa8f152370c257894dff14ed15a0c7da?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Graham Cluley"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/","name":"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac","description":"For day-to-day activities on your Mac - such as browsing the web, writing documents or checking your emails - are you using an account with Admin privileges? Maybe that's not so wise...","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/author\/graham-cluley\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/author\/graham-cluley\/#author"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/rootpipe-400x260.jpeg","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#mainImage","width":400,"height":200},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/#mainImage"},"datePublished":"2014-11-05T08:48:27-08:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T05:56:20-07:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/","name":"The Mac Security Blog","description":"Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/#organization"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"The Mac Security Blog - Keep Macs safe from the dangers of the Internet","og:type":"article","og:title":"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac","og:description":"For day-to-day activities on your Mac - such as browsing the web, writing documents or checking your emails - are you using an account with Admin privileges? Maybe that's not so wise...","og:url":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/","article:published_time":"2014-11-05T16:48:27+00:00","article:modified_time":"2026-08-08T12:56:20+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/integogroup\/","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:site":"@IntegoSecurity","twitter:title":"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac","twitter:description":"For day-to-day activities on your Mac - such as browsing the web, writing documents or checking your emails - are you using an account with Admin privileges? Maybe that's not so wise...","twitter:creator":"@IntegoSecurity"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"33463","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":"2026-09-03 19:05:28","created":"2026-09-03 19:05:28","updated":"2026-09-04 13:47:12","reviewed_by":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-news\/\" title=\"Security News\">Security News<\/a>\n<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\tRootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac\n<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/"},{"label":"Security News","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/category\/security-news\/"},{"label":"Rootpipe Flaw in OS X Could Allow Hackers to Completely Take Over Your Mac","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/rootpipe-hacker-mac\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33463"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106426,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33463\/revisions\/106426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}