CVE-2025-43330 is a critical sandbox escape vulnerability affecting Apple macOS systems prior to the release of macOS Sequoia 15.7. The vulnerability stems from a flaw in the sandbox enforcement mechanism, classified under CWE-693 (Protection Mechanism Failure). An application exploiting this vulnerability can break out of its sandbox environment, which is designed to isolate apps and restrict their access to system resources and user data. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.2 reflects a high-severity issue with the following vector metrics: local attack vector (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), user interaction required (UI:R), scope changed (S:C), and high impact on confidentiality and integrity (C:H/I:H) but no impact on availability (A:N). This means an attacker needs to convince a user to run a malicious app locally, but once executed, the app can escape sandbox restrictions, potentially accessing sensitive data or modifying system components. Apple addressed this vulnerability by removing the vulnerable code in macOS Sequoia 15.7, effectively closing the sandbox escape vector. No public exploits or active attacks have been reported yet, but the nature of the flaw makes it a significant threat if weaponized. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because sandboxing is a core security feature in macOS, and its bypass undermines the platform's security model.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a substantial risk to confidentiality and integrity of sensitive data on macOS devices. Organizations in sectors such as finance, government, media, and technology that rely on macOS for daily operations could face unauthorized data access or manipulation if exploited. The sandbox escape could allow malware or malicious insiders to escalate privileges and access protected resources, bypassing application-level restrictions. This could lead to data breaches, intellectual property theft, or disruption of critical workflows. Since the attack requires local access and user interaction, phishing or social engineering campaigns could be used to deliver the malicious app. The lack of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate risk, but the high severity and ease of exploitation once a user runs the app make timely patching essential. Failure to address this vulnerability could also impact compliance with European data protection regulations such as GDPR, especially if sensitive personal data is compromised.

European organizations should immediately plan and deploy updates to macOS Sequoia 15.7 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Until patching is complete, organizations should enforce strict application whitelisting policies, limiting app installations to trusted sources such as the Apple App Store or enterprise-signed applications. User education is critical to reduce the risk of social engineering attacks that could trick users into running malicious apps. Endpoint protection solutions with behavioral detection capabilities should be deployed to identify suspicious sandbox escape attempts. Network segmentation and least privilege principles should be applied to limit the potential damage from compromised macOS devices. Monitoring for unusual local app execution and sandbox violations can provide early detection of exploitation attempts. Finally, organizations should review and update incident response plans to handle potential macOS sandbox escape incidents.