dbcve.org
macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2025-43278

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.4 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 handling of symlinks. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.4. An app may be able to access protected user 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

A symlink handling vulnerability in macOS Sequoia allowed a malicious or compromised application to potentially access protected user data by following symlinks to directories outside its sandboxed scope. This represents a local privilege escalation or sandbox escape issue.

MitigationApply the macOS Sequoia 15.4 security update to all affected macOS systems. In enterprise environments, verify deployment via MDM or patch management tooling.

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:< 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
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. Check installed macOS version
    Open System Settings > About or run `sw_vers -productVersion` in Terminal
    Affected if version is below 15.4

If the macOS version is lower than 15.4, the system is vulnerable to this symlink-based sandbox escape.

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 15.4 or later
Fixed in 15.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the macOS Sequoia 15.4 security update to all affected macOS systems. In enterprise environments, verify deployment via MDM or patch management tooling.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Sequoia 15.4

  1. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions)
  2. Navigate to General > Software Update
  3. Ensure your Mac is connected to power and internet
  4. Click "Check for Update" or allow automatic checking
  5. If macOS 15.4 is available, click "Download and Install"
  6. Wait for the download to complete (may take significant time depending on internet speed)
  7. Follow the on-screen prompts to restart and complete the installation
  8. After restart, verify the version by going to About This Mac (About This System) to confirm macOS 15.4 is installed
Caveat Standard macOS point release - most apps remain compatible; some older 32-bit apps may no longer work

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-43278 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-43278 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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