Apple's Private Cloud Compute Vulnerability Exposes Sensitive Data

• •CVE-2026-20685 allows root file writes and telemetry leakage in Apple's PCC.
• •Drinor Selmanaj received a $150,000 bounty for discovering the vulnerability.
• •The flaw affects AI inference processes and requires privileged network access for exploitation.

A path traversal vulnerability (CVE-2026-20685) in Apple's Private Cloud Compute (PCC) was discovered by security researcher Drinor Selmanaj, leading to a $150,000 bounty. The flaw allows attackers in a privileged network position to write files as root during node boot and redirect AI inference telemetry to an external server. Although sensitive data such as prompt and answer text did not leak, telemetry information including token counts and latency data was exposed, which could aid in fingerprinting users. The vulnerability was reported through Apple's Virtual Research Environment, which is designed for security testing. Apple has since addressed the issue in PCC Release 5E290.3 and later. This incident highlights the importance of security in AI-driven environments, especially those handling sensitive user data.