CVE-2025-43470
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 · uneditedA permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Tahoe 26.1. A standard user may be able to view files made from a disk image belonging to an administrator.
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 · high confidenceA permissions bypass in macOS Tahoe allows standard (non-administrator) users to read files from disk images (DMG files) created by an administrator. The vulnerability stems from insufficient access control restrictions on disk images, potentially exposing sensitive administrative data to unprivileged users.
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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify macOS versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal to get the installed macOS version numberAffected if The version displayed is lower than 26.1 (for example, 26.0, 25.x, 24.x, etc.)
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Identify disk image files in the environmentRun 'find /Users -maxdepth 4 -name "*.dmg" -type f 2>/dev/null' to locate DMG files in user-accessible directoriesAffected if One or more DMG files exist in locations readable by standard users (such as Downloads, Documents, or shared directories)
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Confirm presence of standard (non-administrator) usersRun 'dscl . -list /Users UniqueID | awk "$2 >= 500 && $2 < 1000 {print $1}"' to list standard users (UID 500-999)Affected if One or more standard users exist on the system
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Check if disk images can be mounted by standard usersCreate a test DMG file as an admin user, then attempt to mount it using a standard user account (or inspect /tmp and /Volumes directories for mounted DMG images with 'ls -la /Volumes')Affected if Standard users can successfully mount DMG files created by administrator accounts
You are affected if macOS version is below 26.1 AND there are DMG files created by administrators present on the system AND standard users exist who could potentially mount and read those disk images.
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
Apply macOS Tahoe 26.1 security update which adds additional permission restrictions to prevent standard users from accessing files in administrator-created disk images.
macOS Tahoe 26.1
- Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions)
- Navigate to General → Software Update
- Click "Check for Update" or allow automatic checks
- If macOS Tahoe 26.1 or later is available, click "Download and Install"
- Follow the on-screen prompts and restart when prompted to complete the installation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-43470 — 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-2025-43470 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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- 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