dbcve.org
macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2025-43273

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.8 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
A permissions issue was addressed with additional sandbox restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.6, macOS Sonoma 14.8. A sandboxed process may be able to circumvent sandbox restrictions.

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

A sandboxed process on macOS could circumvent sandbox restrictions due to a permissions issue, potentially allowing privilege escalation or unauthorized access to system resources. This is a sandbox escape vulnerability affecting macOS Sonoma prior to 14.8 and macOS Sequoia prior to 15.6.

MitigationApply macOS security updates: update macOS Sonoma to 14.8 or later, or macOS Sequoia to 15.6 or later.

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:< 14.8

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Check installed macOS version
    Open System Settings > About, or run `sw_vers` in Terminal
    Affected if Version is earlier than 14.8 (Sonoma) or earlier than 15.6 (Sequoia)
  2. Identify macOS release name
    Run `sw_vers -productVersion` and note the major version number (14.x = Sonoma, 15.x = Sequoia)
    Affected if Running macOS 14.x below 14.8, or macOS 15.x below 15.6
  3. Confirm System Update status
    Open System Settings > Software Update to see if updates are available
    Affected if Running a version with available security updates that address this vulnerability

You are affected if your macOS installation is Sonoma earlier than 14.8 or Sequoia earlier than 15.6, as these versions contain the vulnerable sandbox permissions issue.

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 14.8 or later
Fixed in 14.8
Interim mitigation

Apply macOS security updates: update macOS Sonoma to 14.8 or later, or macOS Sequoia to 15.6 or later.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Sonoma 14.8 or macOS Sequoia 15.6

  1. Back up important data before performing any system update
  2. Upgrade to macOS Sonoma 14.8 or later (or macOS Sequoia 15.6 or later if using Sequoia)
  3. Verify the update was successful by checking System Settings > General > Software Update
Caveat Standard macOS upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for potential app compatibility issues

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2025-43273 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