CVE-2025-24249 in macOS
Summary
by MITRE • 04/01/2025
A permissions issue was addressed with additional sandbox restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.7.5, macOS Sequoia 15.4, macOS Sonoma 14.7.5. An app may be able to check the existence of an arbitrary path on the file system.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/07/2025
This vulnerability represents a sandbox bypass issue that undermines the fundamental security boundaries designed to protect user systems from unauthorized file system access. The flaw allows malicious applications to circumvent macOS sandboxing mechanisms and determine whether specific file paths exist on the system, potentially exposing sensitive information about the file system structure and user data organization. The vulnerability affects multiple macOS versions including Ventura 13.7.5, Sequoia 15.4, and Sonoma 14.7.5, indicating a widespread impact across the operating system ecosystem. The issue falls under the category of insufficient permissions checking, which is classified as CWE-284 according to the Common Weakness Enumeration framework, specifically addressing inadequate access control mechanisms that permit unauthorized access to system resources.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits weaknesses in the sandboxing architecture that should normally prevent applications from accessing arbitrary file system paths without explicit user permission or appropriate entitlements. When an application can check the existence of arbitrary paths, it gains valuable reconnaissance information that could be leveraged in subsequent attacks. This capability allows threat actors to map out file system structures, identify sensitive directories, and potentially discover user data locations that would otherwise remain hidden from unauthorized applications. The sandbox restrictions that were previously in place were insufficient to prevent this type of information disclosure, creating a persistent security gap that could be exploited by malicious software.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it provides attackers with crucial reconnaissance data that can be used to plan more sophisticated attacks. An attacker could use this capability to identify system files, user documents, or sensitive data locations, potentially enabling targeted attacks against specific user accounts or system components. The vulnerability represents a significant weakening of the macOS security model, particularly concerning the principle of least privilege that should govern application access to system resources. This issue directly violates the security principle that applications should only have access to resources they explicitly require for their legitimate function, as outlined in the ATT&CK framework under technique T1059 for system reconnaissance and information gathering activities.
The mitigation strategy for this vulnerability requires immediate deployment of the patched macOS versions mentioned in the advisory, as these releases contain the necessary sandbox restriction improvements. System administrators should prioritize patching across all affected systems to prevent exploitation, particularly in environments where multiple users operate with varying levels of system access. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring for suspicious file system access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, as the vulnerability could be leveraged in combination with other attack vectors to achieve more comprehensive system compromise. The fix addresses the core permissions issue by strengthening the sandboxing controls that govern path existence checking, ensuring that applications cannot bypass these security boundaries to probe the file system structure.