VulnerabilityPublished 27 Jan 2025Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2025-24136: Apple macOS · Link Following

Affects Apple macOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.4 Medium · fixed in 15.3 : update Apple macOS when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.4Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 20% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 15.3

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 27 Jan 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apple macOS	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Apply the official Apple security updates for macOS Sequoia 15.3, Sonoma 14.7.3, Ventura 13.7.3, or later versions immediately to remediate the vulnerability.
Enforce strict application whitelisting policies to prevent installation or execution of untrusted or unsigned applications that could exploit symlink creation.
Educate users about the risks of running unknown or suspicious applications, emphasizing the importance of user interaction in exploitation.
Monitor filesystem changes and symlink creations in sensitive directories using endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to detect anomalous behavior.
Implement least privilege principles to limit user permissions, reducing the impact of malicious apps running under standard user accounts.
Regularly audit installed applications and remove unnecessary or outdated software that could serve as attack vectors.
Employ macOS security features such as System Integrity Protection (SIP) and Full Disk Encryption (FileVault) to add layers of defense against unauthorized access.
Maintain up-to-date backups to recover from potential data integrity compromises.

Description

This issue was addressed with improved validation of symlinks. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.3, macOS Sonoma 14.7.3, macOS Ventura 13.7.3. A malicious app may be able to create symlinks to protected regions of the disk.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-24136 is on the confidentiality and integrity of data stored in protected regions of the macOS filesystem. By exploiting the symlink creation flaw, a malicious app could redirect file operations to sensitive files or directories, potentially exposing or altering data that should be inaccessible to standard users. Although the vulnerability does not affect system availability, unauthorized access or modification of protected files could facilitate privilege escalation, data leakage, or persistence mechanisms for attackers. The requirement for local access and user interaction limits the threat to environments where users may inadvertently run untrusted applications. Organizations relying on macOS devices, especially those handling sensitive data or intellectual property, could face increased risk of data compromise if patches are not applied. Additionally, the vulnerability may be leveraged as part of multi-stage attacks, increasing overall threat complexity. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for future exploitation.

CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Symlink Attack (opens in a new tab)
Using Malicious Files (opens in a new tab)
Leverage Executable Code in Non-Executable Files (opens in a new tab)
Manipulating Web Input to File System Calls (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Apr 2026, 00:35 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-59

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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