macOSOperating system · Apple

CVE-2025-43474

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.8.2 / 15.7.2 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.7.2, macOS Sonoma 14.8.2, macOS Tahoe 26.1. An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination or read kernel memory.

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 confidence

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability in macOS kernel that allows a local application to potentially read kernel memory or cause system termination. The fix involves improved input validation in the affected kernel component.

MitigationApply the macOS security updates: Sequoia 15.7.2, Sonoma 14.8.2, or Tahoe 26.1 depending on the macOS version in use.

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:< 14.8.2>= 15.0, < 15.7.2

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 the installed macOS version
    Open Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if The version output is below 14.8.2, or is 15.0 through 15.7.1 (for example 15.0, 15.3, 15.6, 15.7.1)
  2. Confirm the major macOS release name
    Run: sw_vers -productVersion and note the first number (14 for Sonoma, 15 for Sequoia)
    Affected if Running Sonoma 14.x versions before 14.8.2, or Sequoia 15.0-15.7.1

The system is affected if it runs macOS Sonoma before 14.8.2 or macOS Sequoia between 15.0 and 15.7.1 inclusive.

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 14.8.2 / 15.7.2 or later
Fixed in 14.8.215.7.2
Interim mitigation

Apply the macOS security updates: Sequoia 15.7.2, Sonoma 14.8.2, or Tahoe 26.1 depending on the macOS version in use.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Sonoma 14.8.2 or macOS Sequoia 15.7.2

  1. Check current macOS version by clicking Apple menu > About This Mac
  2. For macOS Sonoma (14.x) users: Upgrade to macOS Sonoma 14.8.2 or later via System Settings > Software Update
  3. For macOS Sequoia (15.x) users: Upgrade to macOS Sequoia 15.7.2 or later via System Settings > Software Update
  4. After upgrading, verify the version by checking About This Mac to confirm the security update is installed

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

Fix this in macOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-43474 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-43474 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