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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2025-24254: Apple macOS · A user may be able to elevate privileges

Affects Apple macOSSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.8 High · fixed in 15.4 : patch Apple macOS soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
8.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 56% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 15.4
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 31 Mar 2025

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Apple macOSAffected
  • =0
Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-24254 effectively, organizations should: 1) Immediately apply the security updates provided by Apple for macOS Sequoia 15.4, Sonoma 14.7.5, and Ventura 13.7.5 or later versions, as these contain the fix for the symlink validation issue. 2) Audit and restrict user privileges to the minimum necessary, reducing the risk that a low-privilege user can exploit the vulnerability. 3) Monitor system logs and behavior for unusual symlink activity or privilege escalation attempts, using endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools tailored for macOS environments. 4) Implement application whitelisting and integrity monitoring to detect unauthorized changes that could result from privilege escalation. 5) Educate users and administrators about the risks of privilege escalation and the importance of timely patching. 6) For organizations with macOS devices in sensitive roles, consider network segmentation and limiting network exposure to reduce the attack surface. 7) Maintain regular backups and incident response plans to quickly recover from potential compromises. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on proactive patch management, monitoring specific to symlink exploitation, and privilege minimization.

Description

This issue was addressed with improved validation of symlinks. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.4, macOS Sonoma 14.7.5, macOS Ventura 13.7.5. A user may be able to elevate privileges.

References

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