CVE-2025-31275 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting Apple macOS, specifically related to sandboxed processes. Sandboxing is a security mechanism used to isolate applications and limit their access to system resources, thereby reducing the potential damage from malicious or compromised software. This vulnerability arises from a permissions issue that allows a sandboxed process to launch any installed application on the system. Normally, sandboxed processes should have restricted capabilities and should not be able to arbitrarily execute other installed applications without explicit permission. The flaw indicates that these restrictions were insufficient, enabling a sandboxed process to bypass intended controls and initiate execution of arbitrary apps. This could lead to privilege escalation or unauthorized actions if an attacker can run code within a sandboxed environment. The issue was addressed by Apple in macOS Sequoia 15.6 through additional restrictions to the sandboxing permissions model. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.2, reflecting a medium severity level. The vector string (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N) indicates that the attack requires local access (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges (PR:N), and no user interaction (UI:N). The scope is unchanged (S:U), with no confidentiality impact (C:N), but a high integrity impact (I:H), and no availability impact (A:N). This means an attacker with local access but no privileges can exploit this vulnerability without user interaction to modify or interfere with system integrity by launching arbitrary applications. There are no known exploits in the wild at the time of publication, and the affected versions are unspecified but presumably all versions prior to macOS Sequoia 15.6. The underlying weakness is classified under CWE-274 (Improper Enforcement of Security Controls).

For European organizations using Apple macOS devices, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to the integrity of their systems. An attacker who gains local access to a device, even without elevated privileges, could exploit this flaw to launch arbitrary installed applications. This could facilitate further attacks such as privilege escalation, lateral movement, or execution of malicious payloads under the guise of legitimate applications. Particularly in environments where macOS devices are used for sensitive operations or contain critical data, this could undermine system trust and security. Since the vulnerability does not impact confidentiality or availability directly, the main concern is unauthorized modification or execution of software that could lead to data corruption or compromise. The lack of required user interaction lowers the barrier for exploitation once local access is obtained, increasing risk in scenarios where endpoint devices might be physically accessible or compromised through other means. European organizations with large macOS deployments, especially in sectors like finance, government, or technology, should be aware of this threat. The medium severity score suggests it is a significant but not critical risk, and the absence of known exploits provides a window for proactive mitigation.

1. Upgrade all macOS devices to version Sequoia 15.6 or later where the vulnerability is patched. 2. Restrict local access to macOS devices through physical security controls and endpoint protection to reduce the chance of an attacker gaining local access. 3. Implement application whitelisting and monitoring to detect and prevent unauthorized application launches, especially from sandboxed or untrusted processes. 4. Use endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of identifying anomalous process launches originating from sandboxed environments. 5. Enforce strict user privilege management to minimize the number of users with local access and to limit the ability of sandboxed processes to escalate privileges. 6. Conduct regular security audits and penetration tests focusing on sandbox escape and local privilege escalation vectors. 7. Educate users about the risks of local device compromise and encourage secure handling of devices to prevent unauthorized physical access. These measures go beyond generic patching by focusing on reducing the attack surface and improving detection of exploitation attempts.