CVE-2025-46293
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 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 confidenceThis is a symlink handling vulnerability in macOS Sequoia that allows a malicious or compromised application to access protected user data by exploiting symlink traversal. The attacker would need to trick a user into running an app that then uses symlinks to bypass file permission restrictions and read sensitive user data.
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< 15.4CVSS 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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Check installed macOS versionRun 'sw_vers -ProductVersion' in Terminal or go to Apple menu > About This Mac > System Report > Software > System VersionAffected if The version displayed is below 15.4 (e.g., 15.0, 15.1, 15.2, 15.3)
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Verify security update statusGo to System Settings > General > Software Update and check if any updates are available, or run 'defaults read /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion ProductVersionExtra' to see update notesAffected if No security update to 15.4 or later has been installed
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Inspect symlinks in protected directoriesRun 'ls -la ~/Library/Application Support/' and 'ls -la ~/Documents/' to list symlinks (entries starting with 'l'), or use 'find ~ -type l -ls 2>/dev/null' to find all symlinks in the user home directoryAffected if Unexpected symlinks point to sensitive locations such as ~/Library/Mail, ~/Library/Contacts, or other protected user data directories
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Check for recently created symlinksRun 'find ~ -type l -newermt "2025-01-01" -ls 2>/dev/null' to find symlinks created in 2025 or laterAffected if Symlinks were created recently in user-accessible directories that link to protected system locations
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Review application permissionsCheck System Settings > Privacy & Security > Security to see which apps have Full Disk Access, or run 'tccutil list' if you have appropriate permissionsAffected if Applications from untrusted or unknown developers have been granted access to sensitive user data folders
A system is likely affected if it runs macOS Sequoia version below 15.4 and has not applied the security update, as the vulnerability allows symlink traversal to bypass file permission restrictions on 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 · scoped15.4
Apply the macOS Sequoia 15.4 security update to patch the symlink handling vulnerability. Ensure users only install applications from trusted sources to reduce risk of exploitation.
macOS Sequoia 15.4
- Back up your Mac using Time Machine or another backup method before upgrading
- Verify your current macOS version by clicking the Apple menu and selecting About This Mac
- Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS)
- Click on General in the sidebar
- Click on Software Update
- Allow macOS to check for updates - if macOS Sequoia 15.4 is available, it will appear in the list
- Click Update or Download to install macOS Sequoia 15.4
- Follow the on-screen instructions and allow the Mac to restart during the installation process
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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-2025-46293 — 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-2025-46293 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
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