Meta has released a fix for its Muse macOS application after the discovery of a zero-day vulnerability that could allow someone to seize control of the AI agent. The flaw, uncovered by security researcher Patrick Wardle, exploited an undocumented Muse setting to grant unauthorised access to user accounts.
The vulnerability enabled potential attackers running local code to redirect transcription processing away from Meta’s servers and towards their own endpoint. By doing so, an attacker could gain access to the affected Muse account, effectively taking control of the AI agent.
How the exploit worked
Several design decisions reportedly contributed to the flaw. Muse dictation was handled in the cloud rather than on the device itself, meaning transcription data travelled to external servers for processing. In addition, any application was able to control all of Muse’s undocumented settings, opening the door for malicious code to alter how and where that data was sent.
The zero-day exploit required local access to the user’s device to be carried out. Once that access was obtained, however, the attacker could redirect the transcription flow and reach the associated Muse account, illustrating how a combination of cloud-based processing and loosely restricted settings could be chained together.
Meta’s response
Following the disclosure, Meta issued a patch addressing the vulnerability in the Muse macOS app. The update closes off the method used to redirect transcription processing to an unauthorised endpoint, restoring the intended behaviour of routing data through Meta’s own servers.
The case highlights the security considerations that accompany AI agents capable of handling sensitive user input such as dictation. Both the reliance on cloud processing for transcription and the ability of external applications to manipulate hidden settings were central to how the exploit was made possible before the fix was deployed.
The patch is available to Muse users on macOS, addressing the specific flaw identified by the security researcher.
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Image: theverge.com
