dbcve.org
macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2025-43204

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 26.0 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
This issue was addressed by removing the vulnerable code. This issue is fixed in macOS Tahoe 26. An app may be able to break out of its sandbox.

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 · low confidence

A sandbox escape vulnerability in macOS allowed an application to break out of its sandbox isolation. The vulnerability was addressed by removing the vulnerable code. This issue affects macOS versions prior to macOS Tahoe 26.

MitigationApply macOS Tahoe 26 or later to remediate this sandbox escape vulnerability. Prior to deployment, test the update in a staging environment to ensure compatibility with existing workflows.

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:< 26.0

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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
    Go to Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal, or run 'system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType' in Terminal
    Affected if The reported version is below 26.0 (such as 25.x, 24.x, etc.)
  2. Confirm exact macOS build number
    Run 'system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType | grep -E "System Version|Build Version"' in Terminal to get the precise build number
    Affected if The build version corresponds to a pre-Tahoe 26 release
  3. Verify macOS release name
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' and cross-reference with Apple's macOS release history to confirm it is not macOS Tahoe 26 or later
    Affected if The release is named something other than Tahoe 26 or is a point release below 26.0

If the macOS version is 26.0 or later, the environment is not affected by this sandbox escape vulnerability; if it is any version below 26.0, the system is within the affected range.

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 26.0 or later
Fixed in 26.0
Interim mitigation

Apply macOS Tahoe 26 or later to remediate this sandbox escape vulnerability. Prior to deployment, test the update in a staging environment to ensure compatibility with existing workflows.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Tahoe 26.0

  1. Upgrade macOS to version 26.0 (Tahoe) or later to address the sandbox escape vulnerability

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,808.

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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-2025-43204 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