Researchers bypass Apple’s M5 security with AI-powered macOS exploit

As outlined in Tech Radar, cybersecurity researchers have successfully created a macOS kernel memory corruption exploit targeting Apple's M5 silicon, bypassing a recently implemented security feature. The exploit was developed using Anthropic's Mythos Preview AI tool, highlighting the growing capabilities of AI in discovering complex software vulnerabilities.

Researchers from Calif utilized Anthropic's Mythos Preview AI to chain two previously unknown bugs and several techniques, ultimately creating a functional exploit for Apple's M5 chip. This exploit successfully bypassed the new Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE) feature, which Apple introduced in September 2025 to prevent memory corruption attacks. Despite Apple's significant investment in MIE, the Calif team achieved a root shell within five days of using Mythos. The exploit targets macOS 26.4.1 and operates from an unprivileged local user, leveraging only standard system calls.

This development underscores the potential of AI tools like Mythos to uncover sophisticated flaws in hardware and software, even those protected by advanced security measures. Apple is reportedly aware of the vulnerability and is working on a fix.

Source: Tech Radar