CVE-2025-43381
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 · uneditedThis issue was addressed with improved handling of symlinks. This issue is fixed in macOS Tahoe 26.1. A malicious app may be able to delete 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 confidenceA vulnerability in macOS Tahoe 26.1 involving improper symlink handling allows a malicious application to delete protected user data. The flaw permits symlink-based path traversal or manipulation that bypasses intended file protection boundaries.
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< 26.1CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed macOS versionOpen System Settings > General > About, or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal. Compare the macOS version number to 26.1.Affected if The installed macOS version is lower than 26.1 (e.g., 25.x, 24.x, etc.).
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Identify applications with broad file accessGo to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Files and Folders (or similar in System Preferences). Review which applications have been granted read/write access to user data folders.Affected if Applications have broad or unnecessary file access permissions to protected user directories (Documents, Desktop, etc.).
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Review application permissions for symlink-prone pathsCheck which applications have permissions to access folders that commonly contain user data and may be subject to symlink manipulation.Affected if Applications with broad access to user-writable directories are present and have not been restricted.
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Audit for suspicious symlinks in protected directoriesRun 'ls -la' on sensitive directories like ~/Documents, ~/Desktop, ~/Downloads to identify any unexpected symlinks pointing outside their expected paths.Affected if Unexpected symlinks exist that traverse outside protected user directories.
The environment is likely affected if the installed macOS version is below 26.1 AND applications with broad file permissions exist that could exploit symlink-based path traversal to delete protected user data.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped26.1
Update to macOS Tahoe 26.1 or later to obtain the fixed version. As a defense-in-depth measure, restrict application permissions and monitor for suspicious file deletion operations.
macOS Tahoe 26.1
- Check your current macOS version by clicking the Apple menu and selecting About This Mac
- Back up important data before performing any system upgrade
- Upgrade to macOS Tahoe 26.1 or later by opening System Settings > General > Software Update
- Ensure the upgrade completes successfully and verify the new version in About This Mac
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-43381 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-43381 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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
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