Apple macOS up to 15.3 App symlink

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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5.1$0-$5k1.16

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Apple macOS up to 15.3. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component App. The manipulation leads to symlink. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2025-43278. The attack needs to be performed locally. There is not any exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Apple macOS up to 15.3. This issue affects an unknown code of the component App. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a symlink vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to 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. Impacted is 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 15.4. An app may be able to access protected user data.

It is possible to read the advisory at support.apple.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-43278 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation is known 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 06/13/2026).

Upgrading to version 15.4 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2025-210111). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.1

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

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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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

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

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 15.4

Timelineinfo

04/16/2025 CVE reserved
06/11/2026 +421 days Advisory disclosed
06/11/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
06/13/2026 +2 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: apple.com

Advisory: support.apple.com
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-43278 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-43278
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-370451
EUVD: 🔒
scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20180712

Entryinfo

Created: 06/11/2026 22:42
Updated: 06/13/2026 06:10
Changes: 06/11/2026 22:42 (57), 06/13/2026 06:10 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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