CVE-2025-43328 in macOS
Summary
by MITRE • 09/16/2025
A permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Tahoe 26. An app may be able to access sensitive user data.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/16/2025
This vulnerability represents a critical permissions flaw in macOS Tahoe 26 that allows applications to potentially access sensitive user data through inadequate access controls. The issue stems from insufficient restrictions on application privileges, creating an attack surface where malicious or poorly designed software could exploit elevated permissions to read confidential information. The vulnerability is classified under the CWE-284 access control weakness category, specifically addressing improper access control mechanisms that permit unauthorized data access. From an operational perspective, this flaw could enable data exfiltration attacks where applications bypass normal security boundaries to obtain personal information, system credentials, or confidential documents. The impact extends beyond individual user privacy concerns to potential corporate data breaches when applications with legitimate access are compromised or misconfigured. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability through various vectors including social engineering to trick users into installing malicious applications, or by exploiting other vulnerabilities to gain initial access and then escalate privileges using this permission flaw. The vulnerability affects the core operating system security model, potentially undermining the sandboxing mechanisms that separate applications from each other and from system resources. Organizations should be particularly concerned as this issue could allow attackers to establish persistent access to user data, creating opportunities for long-term surveillance or data theft operations. The fix implemented in macOS Tahoe 26 involves strengthening the permission model to ensure that applications can only access resources explicitly granted through proper authorization mechanisms, aligning with the principle of least privilege. This remediation addresses the underlying architecture flaw that allowed unauthorized access to sensitive data through improper access control enforcement. Security teams should prioritize patching this vulnerability as it represents a foundational security weakness that could be exploited to gain unauthorized access to user information. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of proper application sandboxing and the need for robust privilege separation mechanisms. Organizations should conduct thorough security assessments to identify applications that may have been exploiting this vulnerability or that could potentially be leveraged by attackers to access user data. This issue demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and the potential consequences of permission-related vulnerabilities in operating system security models. The remediation approach focuses on strengthening the core access control infrastructure to prevent unauthorized data access while maintaining legitimate application functionality. This vulnerability type falls under the ATT&CK technique T1074 Data Staged, where attackers may stage data access through privilege escalation or unauthorized access to sensitive information. The fix reinforces the operating system's ability to enforce mandatory access controls and prevent unauthorized information disclosure. Security professionals should monitor for potential exploitation attempts and ensure that all systems are updated to the patched version of macOS Tahoe 26 to prevent unauthorized access to user data through this permission flaw.