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Incorrect AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-863

CVE-2025-10016

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-09-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
The Sparkle framework includes a helper tool Autoupdate. Due to lack of authentication of connecting clients a local unprivileged attacker can request installation of crafted malicious PKG file by racing to connect to the daemon when other app spawns it as root. This results in local privilege escalation to root privileges. It is worth noting that it is possible to spawn Autopudate manually via Installer XPC service. However this requires the victim to enter credentials upon system authorization dialog creation that can be modified by the attacker. This issue was fixed in version 2.7.2

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

The Sparkle framework's Autoupdate helper tool lacks authentication on its XPC connection, allowing a local unprivileged attacker to race and connect to the daemon when spawned as root. The attacker can then request installation of a crafted malicious PKG file, achieving local privilege escalation to root.

MitigationUpdate Sparkle framework to version 2.7.2 or later, which includes proper XPC client authentication. Verify that the Autoupdate helper tool now validates connecting clients before processing installation requests.

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

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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. Identify applications using the Sparkle framework
    Search for applications that bundle the Sparkle framework in their Contents/Frameworks directory: find /Applications -name 'Sparkle.framework' -type d 2>/dev/null
    Affected if Any Sparkle.framework is found in an application bundle
  2. Determine the installed Sparkle version
    For each found Sparkle.framework, read the Info.plist and check CFBundleShortVersionString, or run: otool -L /path/to/Sparkle.framework/Sparkle | grep -i version
    Affected if The version is lower than 2.7.2 or cannot be determined (treat as vulnerable)
  3. Check for autoupdate helper tool activity
    Monitor for running 'sparkle' or 'org.sparkle-project.Autoupdate' processes, or examine system logs: log show --predicate 'process contains[cd] "autoupdate"' --last 24h
    Affected if The autoupdate helper tool has been recently spawned or is currently running with elevated privileges
  4. Audit for recent PKG installation attempts
    Review installer logs and receipt databases for unusual PKG installations, especially those initiated by the autoupdate helper: grep -r 'PKG' /var/log/install* 2>/dev/null || ls -la /var/db/receipts/ | head -20
    Affected if Any PKG installations were triggered through the autoupdate mechanism that you did not initiate manually

You are affected if any application on your system bundles a Sparkle framework version earlier than 2.7.2, and the autoupdate helper tool has been recently active on the system.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update Sparkle framework to version 2.7.2 or later, which includes proper XPC client authentication. Verify that the Autoupdate helper tool now validates connecting clients before processing installation requests.

Recommended fix High confidence

Sparkle framework version 2.7.2

  1. Identify all applications or projects that utilize the Sparkle framework
  2. For each affected application, check the bundled Sparkle framework version or the Sparkle dependency version in the project (e.g., via CocoaPods, Swift Package Manager, or Carthage)
  3. Upgrade the Sparkle framework dependency to version 2.7.2 or later
  4. Rebuild and redistribute the affected applications with the updated framework
  5. Verify that the Autoupdate helper tool now properly authenticates connecting clients before accepting installation requests

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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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-2025-10016 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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