CVE-2025-43319

Description

CVE-2025-43319 is a privacy bypass vulnerability in macOS that stems from insufficient symlink validation. According to Apple's security advisories, the issue is fixed in macOS Tahoe 26, macOS Sonoma 14.8, and macOS Sequoia 15.7 [1][2][3][4]. The root cause is a symlink validation weakness that could let a malicious application circumvent system privacy controls.

Exploitation

An attacker needs to have an app running on the target system. No special system permissions are required beyond what a standard user process already has. By crafting a carefully designed symlink sequence, the app can trick the operating system into bypassing the usual privacy checks that restrict access to protected user data. The vulnerability is local and requires user interaction only to the extent that the malicious app is launched.

Impact

A successful exploit allows the app to read protected user data, such as documents, contacts, or other information guarded by macOS Privacy preferences. The CVE description lists the impact as 'An app may be able to access protected user data' [1][2][3][4]. This could lead to unauthorized data collection by a malicious or compromised application.

Mitigation

Apple has addressed the vulnerability in macOS Sequoia 15.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8, and macOS Tahoe 26, all released September 15, 2025 [1][2][3][4]. Users are strongly advised to update their systems to the latest available version. There are no reported workarounds.