CVE-2025-43273VulnerabilityPublished 29 Jul 2025Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2025-43273: Apple macOS · A sandboxed process may be able to circumvent sandbox restrictions

Affects Apple macOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.1 Critical · fixed in 15.6 : patch Apple macOS as a priority.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 07:57 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

9.1Critical

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

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 50% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 15.6

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

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

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
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: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
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: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to 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 29 Jul 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 2026-10-26.

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 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

To mitigate CVE-2025-43273, organizations should immediately prioritize updating all affected macOS systems to versions Sequoia 15.6 or Sonoma 14.8 or later, where the vulnerability has been addressed. Beyond patching, organizations should audit sandbox configurations to ensure they follow the principle of least privilege and verify that sandbox policies are correctly enforced. Employ runtime monitoring and endpoint detection solutions capable of identifying anomalous behavior indicative of sandbox escape attempts, such as unexpected process spawning or unauthorized resource access. Restrict network exposure of applications running sandboxed processes to minimize remote exploitation vectors. For development and testing environments, implement strict code signing and integrity checks to prevent untrusted code execution within sandboxes. Regularly review and update incident response plans to include scenarios involving sandbox escape vulnerabilities. Finally, maintain awareness of threat intelligence updates related to this CVE to respond promptly to any emerging exploit activity.

Description

A permissions issue was addressed with additional sandbox restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.6, macOS Sonoma 14.8. A sandboxed process may be able to circumvent sandbox restrictions.

Impact

The impact of CVE-2025-43273 is significant for organizations worldwide that use macOS, especially in environments where sandboxing is a critical security control, such as app development, software distribution platforms, and enterprise endpoint protection. Successful exploitation can lead to sandbox escape, allowing malicious code to access sensitive system resources, user data, or escalate privileges beyond the intended confinement. This compromises the confidentiality and integrity of the system, potentially enabling further attacks such as data exfiltration, installation of persistent malware, or lateral movement within a network. Since the vulnerability requires no privileges or user interaction, it can be exploited remotely if a sandboxed process is exposed to attacker-controlled inputs, increasing the attack surface. Organizations relying on macOS for secure application execution or those using sandboxing as a defense-in-depth mechanism face elevated risk. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the critical severity score indicates that exploitation could have widespread and damaging consequences if weaponized.

CWE-693Protection Mechanism Failure (opens in a new tab)
Pillar weaknessOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs (opens in a new tab)
Cross Site Tracing (opens in a new tab)
Directory Indexing (opens in a new tab)
Using Malicious Files (opens in a new tab)
Encryption Brute Forcing (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Apr 2026, 01:50 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-693

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats