Apple macOS up to 15.5 App symlink

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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Current Exploit Price (≈)
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CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.9$0-$5k1.92-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Apple macOS up to 15.5. This vulnerability affects unknown code of the component App. This manipulation causes symlink. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-43257. The attack can only be executed locally. There is no exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Apple macOS up to 15.5. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is some unknown processing of the component App. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a symlink vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-61. The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

This issue was addressed with improved handling of symlinks. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.6. An app may be able to break out of its sandbox.

It is possible to read the advisory at support.apple.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-43257 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. Attacking locally is a requirement. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 04/03/2026).

Upgrading to version 15.6 eliminates this vulnerability.

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

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Version

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Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.9

VulDB Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.1
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

ADP CISA Base Score: 8.7
ADP CISA Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Symlink
CWE: CWE-61 / CWE-59
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: macOS 15.6

Timelineinfo

04/16/2025 CVE reserved
04/02/2026 +351 days VulDB entry created
04/03/2026 +0 days Advisory disclosed
04/03/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: apple.com

Advisory: support.apple.com
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-43257 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-43257
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-355039
scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20180712

Entryinfo

Created: 04/03/2026 00:09
Changes: 04/03/2026 00:09 (66)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216:821:103

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

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