dbcve.org
macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2025-43207

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 26.0 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 with improved entitlements. This issue is fixed in macOS Tahoe 26. An app may be able to access user-sensitive data.

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

This is a macOS entitlements vulnerability where an application could improperly access user-sensitive data due to insufficient permission boundaries in the operating system. The fix in macOS Tahoe 26 involved improving the entitlements model to restrict such access.

MitigationUpdate to macOS Tahoe 26 or later to receive the entitlements fix. Verify that application sandboxing and entitlement configurations are functioning as intended.

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checks

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

  1. Identify macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or check System Settings > About
    Affected if The version is below 26.0 (e.g., 25.x, 24.x, etc.)
  2. Review installed application entitlements
    Inspect /Applications/*.app/Contents/Entitlements/*.plist files for any apps with broad data access permissions such as com.apple.security.personal-information.addressbook, com.apple.security.personal-information.photos-library, or similar sensitive data entitlements
    Affected if Applications possess entitlements granting access to user contacts, photos, calendar, or other sensitive data without documented justification
  3. Verify application sandbox status
    Run 'codesign -dvv /path/to/application.app 2>&1 | grep -i sandbox' to check if an app is sandboxed, or inspect the com.apple.security.app-sandbox entitlement in the app's entitlements file
    Affected if Applications handling sensitive data are not sandboxed or have sandboxing disabled
  4. Audit third-party applications with full disk access
    Check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access for any third-party applications granted access to user data directories
    Affected if Third-party applications have Full Disk Access permissions that exceed their functional requirements
  5. Inspect system-wide entitlement configuration
    Check /System/Library/Frameworks/*/Resources/Entitlements/*.plist for any misconfigured system framework entitlements that may allow unauthorized data access
    Affected if System frameworks contain entitlements permitting broader data access than intended

A system is affected if it runs macOS versions prior to 26.0 and has applications with entitlements or permissions that could exploit insufficient permission boundaries to access user-sensitive data.

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

Update to macOS Tahoe 26 or later to receive the entitlements fix. Verify that application sandboxing and entitlement configurations are functioning as intended.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Tahoe 26.0

  1. Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup method before updating
  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 Tahoe 26.0 or later is available, click 'Update Now' or 'Upgrade Now' to install the update
  6. Restart your Mac if prompted to complete the installation
  7. After updating, verify the macOS version by going to System Settings > General > About and confirm the version number is 26.0 or later
Caveat Standard macOS upgrade risks apply - review Apple release notes for any app compatibility concerns before updating

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
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-43207 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