Apple macOS up to 13.6/14.6/15.5 path traversal

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as critical has been discovered in Apple macOS up to 13.6/14.6/15.5. This affects an unknown function. Executing a manipulation can lead to path traversal. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2025-43196. The attack is restricted to local execution. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Apple macOS up to 13.6/14.6/15.5 and classified as critical. This vulnerability affects an unknown functionality. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a path traversal vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-22. The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

A path handling issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.6, macOS Sonoma 14.7.7, macOS Ventura 13.7.7. An app may be able to gain root privileges.

The advisory is shared for download at support.apple.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-43196 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 08/02/2025). The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1006.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 243030 (macOS 15.x < 15.6 Multiple Vulnerabilities (124149)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 13.7, 14.7 or 15.6 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (243030). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Apple

Name

• macOS

Version

• 13.0
• 13.1
• 13.2
• 13.3
• 13.4
• 13.5
• 13.6
• 14.0
• 14.1
• 14.2
• 14.3
• 14.4
• 14.5
• 14.6
• 15.0
• 15.1
• 15.2
• 15.3
• 15.4
• 15.5

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.apple.com/

CPE 2.3info

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Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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