macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2025-30453

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.7.6 / 14.7.6 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 issue was addressed with additional permissions checks. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.4, macOS Sonoma 14.7.6, macOS Ventura 13.7.6. A malicious app may be able to gain root privileges.

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 · moderate confidence

Local privilege escalation vulnerability in macOS where a malicious application can bypass existing permissions checks to gain root privileges. The fix adds additional permissions checks to prevent unprivileged apps from escalating to root.

MitigationApply the relevant macOS security update: macOS Sequoia 15.4, macOS Sonoma 14.7.6, or macOS Ventura 13.7.6.

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:< 13.7.6>= 14.0, < 14.7.6>= 15.0, < 15.4

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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 installed macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or System Settings > About to see the exact macOS version number
    Affected if Version is earlier than 13.7.6, OR between 14.0 and 14.7.5 inclusive, OR between 15.0 and 15.3.x inclusive
  2. Identify macOS release name
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' and note the major version number: 13.x = Ventura, 14.x = Sonoma, 15.x = Sequoia
    Affected if Running an affected version as identified in step 1
  3. Verify if untrusted applications can be run
    Check if Gatekeeper or application restrictions are disabled by reviewing System Settings > Privacy & Security > Security, or check for any third-party security software that may allow untrusted apps
    Affected if Users can run applications from untrusted sources without elevation prompts (this is the attack vector context)

You are affected if your macOS version falls within any of these ranges: < 13.7.6, >= 14.0 and < 14.7.6, or >= 15.0 and < 15.4, and unprivileged users can run applications 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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 13.7.6 / 14.7.6 / 15.4 or later
Fixed in 13.7.614.7.615.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the relevant macOS security update: macOS Sequoia 15.4, macOS Sonoma 14.7.6, or macOS Ventura 13.7.6.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Ventura 13.7.6, macOS Sonoma 14.7.6, or macOS Sequoia 15.4 depending on your current major version

  1. Before updating, back up critical data using Time Machine or another backup solution
  2. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions)
  3. Navigate to General > Software Update
  4. Allow macOS to check for available updates
  5. If macOS Ventura (13.x) is installed, update to version 13.7.6
  6. If macOS Sonoma (14.x) is installed, update to version 14.7.6
  7. If macOS Sequoia (15.x) is installed, update to version 15.4
  8. Restart the system when prompted to complete the installation
Caveat Standard macOS update caveats apply - some legacy applications may not be compatible with newer macOS versions; ensure third-party software is updated to compatible versions

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-30453 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2025-30453 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