CVE-2025-30451 is a vulnerability identified in Apple macOS that allows an application to access sensitive user data due to insufficient redaction of such information. The issue stems from a failure in properly masking or filtering sensitive data before it is exposed to applications, categorized under CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor). The vulnerability requires local access (AV:L) and low attack complexity (AC:L), with no privileges required (PR:N), but user interaction is necessary (UI:R). The scope is unchanged (S:U), meaning the impact is confined to the vulnerable component. The confidentiality impact is high (C:H), while integrity and availability are unaffected (I:N, A:N). The vulnerability affects unspecified versions of macOS prior to the release of macOS Sequoia 15.4, where Apple implemented improved redaction techniques to mitigate the issue. No public exploits have been reported yet, indicating limited exploitation in the wild. The vulnerability could allow malicious or compromised applications running on a user's system to extract sensitive information that should otherwise be protected, potentially leading to privacy violations or further targeted attacks. The CVSS v3.1 score is 5.5, reflecting a medium severity level due to the requirement for local access and user interaction.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to confidentiality of sensitive user data on macOS devices. Organizations with employees or systems running vulnerable macOS versions could face data leakage risks if malicious or compromised applications are executed locally. This could impact sectors handling sensitive personal or corporate data, such as finance, healthcare, and government. The exposure of sensitive information could lead to privacy breaches, regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR), and reputational damage. However, since exploitation requires local access and user interaction, remote or large-scale automated exploitation is less likely. The absence of integrity or availability impact limits the risk to data exposure rather than system disruption. Organizations relying heavily on Apple ecosystems for critical operations may experience higher risk, especially if patch management is delayed.

1. Immediately update all macOS devices to macOS Sequoia 15.4 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed. 2. Enforce strict application control policies to limit installation and execution of untrusted or unnecessary apps, reducing the chance of malicious apps exploiting this vulnerability. 3. Implement endpoint security solutions capable of monitoring and restricting app behaviors that attempt to access sensitive data. 4. Educate users to avoid interacting with suspicious applications or prompts that could trigger exploitation. 5. Regularly audit and review app permissions and data access policies on macOS devices to minimize exposure. 6. Employ data loss prevention (DLP) tools tailored for macOS environments to detect and block unauthorized data access or exfiltration attempts. 7. Maintain robust patch management processes to ensure timely deployment of security updates across all Apple devices.