CVE-2025-5687
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 vulnerability in Mozilla VPN on macOS allows privilege escalation from a normal user to root. *This bug only affects Mozilla VPN on macOS. Other operating systems are unaffected.*. This vulnerability was fixed in Mozilla VPN 2.28.0 (macOS).
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 confidenceMozilla VPN on macOS contains a privilege escalation vulnerability allowing a standard user to gain root privileges. The flaw is specific to the macOS version of the VPN client and was addressed in version 2.28.0.
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< 2.28.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Mozilla VPN is installedOn the macOS system, check for the presence of Mozilla VPN application in /Applications folder or via Spotlight search. You can also use the command: ls /Applications | grep -i 'mozilla vpn' or system_profiler SPApplications | grep -i 'mozilla vpn'Affected if Mozilla VPN application exists on the macOS system
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Determine installed Mozilla VPN versionOpen Mozilla VPN and navigate to the application menu, then select 'About Mozilla VPN' to view the version number. Alternatively, you can right-click the application in /Applications and select 'Get Info' to see the version field.Affected if The displayed version number is less than 2.28.0
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Confirm operating system is macOSVerify the system is running macOS by checking System Settings > About or running 'uname -a' in Terminal. This vulnerability is specific to the macOS version of the VPN client.Affected if The operating system is macOS and Mozilla VPN version is below 2.28.0
A user is affected if Mozilla VPN is installed on a macOS system and the installed version is any version prior to 2.28.0.
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 · scoped2.28.0
Update Mozilla VPN on macOS systems to version 2.28.0 or later to remediate the vulnerability.
Mozilla VPN 2.28.0 (macOS)
- Check current Mozilla VPN version on macOS (via the application or system settings)
- Download Mozilla VPN version 2.28.0 or later from the official Mozilla website (www.mozilla.org)
- Install the updated Mozilla VPN version following standard installation procedures
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-5687 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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