What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-43273?

CVE-2025-43273 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1 (Critical). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.1%.

Which versions of macOS are affected by CVE-2025-43273?

CVE-2025-43273 is a critical sandbox escape vulnerability in macOS Sequoia 15.x and Sonoma 14.x that allows compromised applications to access confidential data and modify system integrity, directly…

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2025-43273?

Within 24 hours: Inventory all macOS Sequoia 15.x and Sonoma 14.x systems in production and development environments. Within 7 days: Deploy macOS Sequoia 15.6 or macOS Sonoma 14.8 to all affected systems; prioritize user-facing and data-processing endpoints. Within 30 days: Verify 100% compliance via MDM reporting and validate no systems remain on 15.x or 14.x versions below the patched releases.

macOS CVE-2025-43273

CRITICAL

Protection Mechanism Failure (CWE-693)

2025-07-30 product-security@apple.com

Apple macOS Privilege Escalation

9.1

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY

9.1 CRITICAL

AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

None

Lifecycle Timeline

Analysis Generated

Apr 02, 2026 - 19:37 vuln.today

CVE Published

Jul 30, 2025 - 00:15 nvd

CRITICAL 9.1

DescriptionCVE.org

A permissions issue was addressed with additional sandbox restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.6, macOS Sonoma 14.8. A sandboxed process may be able to circumvent sandbox restrictions.

AnalysisAI

Sandbox escape in macOS Sequoia 15.x and Sonoma 14.x allows sandboxed processes to bypass security restrictions and access high-value confidential data or modify system integrity without authentication. Patched in macOS Sequoia 15.6 and macOS Sonoma 14.8. EPSS exploitation probability is low (0.05%, 16th percentile), and no public exploit identified at time of analysis, though the CVSS 9.1 rating reflects the severe theoretical impact of compromised sandbox isolation-a critical security boundary in macOS architecture.

Technical ContextAI

This vulnerability affects the macOS sandbox framework, which implements mandatory access control to restrict application capabilities and isolate processes from system resources. The sandbox operates as a kernel-level enforcement mechanism that limits file system access, network operations, and inter-process communication based on defined security profiles. The root cause falls under CWE-693 (Protection Mechanism Failure), indicating the sandbox's permission model contained weaknesses that allowed restricted operations to succeed despite policy constraints. Apple's sandbox relies on TrustedBSD MAC framework extensions and SBPL (Sandbox Profile Language) rules to enforce application-specific restrictions. This permissions issue allowed processes to perform actions outside their designated security profiles, undermining the defense-in-depth posture where sandbox serves as a containment layer even when application-level vulnerabilities exist. The CPE identifier indicates all macOS deployments prior to the specified fix versions were vulnerable, spanning both consumer and enterprise environments running Sequoia or Sonoma release families.

RemediationAI

Apply vendor-released patches immediately: upgrade macOS Sequoia systems to version 15.6 or later, and macOS Sonoma systems to version 14.8 or later. Updates are distributed through System Preferences > Software Update or via Apple Software Update Service for enterprise environments using Mobile Device Management solutions. Apple's security advisories are available at https://support.apple.com/en-us/124149 and https://support.apple.com/en-us/125112 with detailed update instructions and build identifiers. For enterprise deployments requiring staged rollout, prioritize systems processing untrusted content through sandboxed applications such as web browsers, email clients, and document viewers. No effective workarounds exist for sandbox architecture vulnerabilities-patching is the only remediation path. Verify successful update installation by checking system version in About This Mac and confirming build numbers match Apple's security bulletin specifications.