CVE-2025-43523
MEDIUMCVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Lifecycle Timeline
2Description
A permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.7.3, macOS Tahoe 26.2. An app may be able to access sensitive user data.
Analysis
Local privilege escalation in macOS allows unprivileged applications to access sensitive user data through a permissions bypass. Affects macOS Sequoia versions prior to 15.7.3 and macOS Tahoe prior to 26.2. Attack requires local system access and user interaction (UI:R). EPSS exploitation probability is very low at 0.02%, and no public exploit code or active exploitation has been reported.
Technical Context
This vulnerability stems from insufficient permission enforcement (CWE-200: Information Exposure) in macOS's access control mechanisms. An application running without elevated privileges can circumvent the operating system's sandbox or permission framework that normally restricts access to sensitive user data such as documents, photos, location history, or browsing data. The root cause is classified as an information exposure weakness, indicating the macOS kernel or a system service failed to properly validate or enforce access control lists (ACLs) or entitlements before granting data access. The vulnerability is limited to local attack vectors (AV:L) with low complexity (AC:L), meaning an attacker with code execution on the device can trigger the flaw without complex exploitation techniques.
Affected Products
macOS Sequoia (all versions prior to 15.7.3) and macOS Tahoe (all versions prior to 26.2) are affected, as indicated by CVE-2025-43523. The CPE cpe:2.3:o:apple:macos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* broadly covers all affected macOS editions. Apple security advisories at https://support.apple.com/en-us/125886 and https://support.apple.com/en-us/125887 provide definitive version boundaries and product details.
Remediation
Vendor-released patch: Update macOS Sequoia to 15.7.3 or later, or macOS Tahoe to 26.2 or later. Users should enable automatic macOS updates or manually navigate to System Settings > General > Software Update to download and install the patch. Apple has not disclosed workarounds for this permissions issue; patching is the primary remediation path. Refer to Apple security advisory https://support.apple.com/en-us/125887 for full patch details and verification steps.
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External POC / Exploit Code
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