CVE-2025-31256
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 · uneditedThe issue was addressed with improved handling of caches. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.5. Hot corner may unexpectedly reveal a user’s deleted notes.
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 confidenceA privacy vulnerability in macOS Sequoia allows the Hot Corner feature to unexpectedly reveal deleted notes due to improper cache handling. When users activate a hot corner, the system may display cached data from previously deleted notes rather than properly clearing or securing that information.
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< 15.5CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check macOS versionRun `sw_vers -productVersion` in Terminal or go to System Settings > About to view the installed macOS versionAffected if Version is lower than 15.5 (e.g., 15.4.x, 15.3.x, etc.)
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Verify Hot Corner feature is enabledGo to System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Hot Corner (or System Preferences > Desktop & Dock > Hot Corners on older macOS) and confirm at least one corner action is assignedAffected if Hot Corners are enabled with any action assigned
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Confirm Notes app usageCheck if the Notes application has been used and notes have been deleted. Open Notes app and review the Recently Deleted folder to see if any deleted items existAffected if Notes app has been used and deleted notes exist in Recently Deleted
System is affected if running macOS version below 15.5 with Hot Corners enabled and Notes app containing deleted items.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped15.5
Apply the vendor patch by updating to macOS Sequoia 15.5 or later, which implements improved cache handling to prevent disclosure of deleted notes through hot corners.
macOS Sequoia 15.5
- Back up important data before updating
- Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions)
- Navigate to General > Software Update
- Wait for macOS Sequoia 15.5 to appear and click Download/Install
- Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the update
- Restart the system when prompted to ensure all security patches are applied
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-31256 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-31256 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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