dbcve.org
macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2022-26725

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-05-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.4 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A logic issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in macOS Monterey 12.4. Photo location information may persist after it is removed with Preview Inspector.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A logic error in macOS Monterey 12.4 causes photo GPS/location metadata to persist in image files even after users attempt to remove it using the Preview Inspector tool. The removal command executes but the internal state management fails to properly clear the stored location data, resulting in privacy-sensitive geolocation information remaining in photos despite user expectation of removal.

MitigationApply macOS Monterey 12.4 or later security update to patch the vulnerability. For sensitive environments, manually verify location data removal using third-party metadata tools (e.g., ExifTool) to confirm GPS data is actually cleared from affected images.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 12.0, < 12.4

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check your macOS Monterey version
    Go to Apple menu > About This Mac > Overview tab, or run `sw_vers` in Terminal. Look for the version number (e.g., 12.3, 12.2, 12.1, 12.0).
    Affected if The version is 12.0, 12.1, 12.2, or 12.3 (any version >= 12.0 and < 12.4).
  2. Identify if Preview Inspector was used to remove GPS data
    Review the workflow: Open an image in Preview, open the Inspector (Tools > Show Inspector or press Cmd+Shift+I), click the (i) info button, and attempt to clear location data using the remove button in the GPS section.
    Affected if You have used Preview Inspector to remove location data from photos on this Mac.
  3. Verify actual GPS metadata presence in affected images
    Use ExifTool (exiftool.org) or a metadata viewer to inspect the image files where you attempted to remove GPS data. Run: `exiftool -GPSLatitude -GPSLongitude <imagefile>` or check all GPS tags with `exiftool -GPSAll <imagefile>`.
    Affected if GPS coordinates or GPS-related tags are still present in the file despite using Preview Inspector to remove them.

You are affected if you run macOS Monterey version 12.0-12.3 AND you have used Preview Inspector to remove location data from photos, and those photos still contain GPS metadata when verified with a metadata inspection tool.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 12.4 or later
Fixed in 12.4
Interim mitigation

Apply macOS Monterey 12.4 or later security update to patch the vulnerability. For sensitive environments, manually verify location data removal using third-party metadata tools (e.g., ExifTool) to confirm GPS data is actually cleared from affected images.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Monterey 12.4 or later

  1. Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup method before proceeding
  2. Connect your Mac to a power source to ensure the update isn't interrupted
  3. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions)
  4. Navigate to General > Software Update
  5. Wait for macOS to check for available updates
  6. Click on the update for macOS Monterey 12.4 or later
  7. Click 'Update Now' or 'Upgrade Now' to download and install the update
  8. Follow the on-screen instructions and allow the installation to complete
Caveat Standard macOS upgrade considerations apply - verify app compatibility with Monterey and back up data before updating

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-26725 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data