dbcve.org
macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2025-43314

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.8 / 15.7 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
A parsing issue in the handling of directory paths was addressed with improved path validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8, macOS Tahoe 26. An app may be able to access sensitive 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 path validation vulnerability in macOS allowed malicious applications to potentially access sensitive user data through improper directory path handling. The fix involves improved path validation in the affected macOS versions.

MitigationApply the Apple security updates (macOS Sequoia 15.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8, or macOS Tahoe 26) to address the path validation weakness. This is a vendor-supplied patch, not a custom code fix.

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:>= 14.0, < 14.8>= 15.0, < 15.7

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 the installed macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal to get the exact version number (for example, 14.5 or 15.4)
    Affected if The version falls within 14.0 to 14.7.x or 15.0 to 15.6.x, indicating an unpatched vulnerable release

A system is affected if it runs macOS Sonoma 14.0-14.7.x or macOS Sequoia 15.0-15.6.x; it is NOT affected if running 14.8+, 15.7+, or 26+ (Tahoe).

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 / 15.7 or later
Fixed in 14.815.7
Interim mitigation

Apply the Apple security updates (macOS Sequoia 15.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8, or macOS Tahoe 26) to address the path validation weakness. This is a vendor-supplied patch, not a custom code fix.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS 14.8 (Sonoma) or macOS 15.7 (Sequoia) depending on current major version

  1. 1. Identify the current macOS version by clicking the Apple menu > About This Mac
  2. 2. If running macOS 14.0-14.7 (Sonoma), upgrade to macOS 14.8 or later via System Settings > General > Software Update
  3. 3. If running macOS 15.0-15.6 (Sequoia), upgrade to macOS 15.7 or later via System Settings > General > Software Update
  4. 4. After upgrading, verify the macOS version in About This Mac shows 14.8 or higher for Sonoma, or 15.7 or higher for Sequoia
Caveat Standard macOS upgrade considerations apply - ensure compatible applications and backup important data before upgrading

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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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-2025-43314 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