CVE-2025-43522 is a vulnerability identified in Intel-based Apple macOS systems, caused by a downgrade issue related to code-signing enforcement. Code-signing is a security mechanism that ensures only trusted applications run with appropriate permissions. This vulnerability allows an application with low privileges (local access and low privileges required) to bypass certain code-signing restrictions, enabling it to access user-sensitive data without requiring user interaction. The flaw is categorized under CWE-347, which relates to improper verification of cryptographic signatures, indicating that the downgrade attack weakens the signature validation process. Apple addressed this issue by enhancing code-signing restrictions in macOS Tahoe 26.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.7.3. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 3.3 (low severity), reflecting limited impact and exploitation complexity. The attack vector is local (AV:L), requiring low privileges (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), and affects confidentiality only (C:L), with no impact on integrity or availability. No public exploits or active exploitation have been reported, but the vulnerability could be leveraged by malicious local applications or attackers with limited system access to extract sensitive user data.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-43522 is the potential unauthorized disclosure of sensitive user data on Intel-based macOS devices. This could lead to privacy violations, leakage of confidential business information, or exposure of personal data protected under GDPR. Although the vulnerability does not affect system integrity or availability, the confidentiality breach could undermine trust and compliance efforts, especially in sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government. Organizations with a significant deployment of Intel-based Macs are at greater risk, particularly if endpoint security controls are weak or if local user accounts are not tightly managed. The absence of required user interaction reduces the likelihood of social engineering but increases risk from insider threats or malware that gains local foothold. Since no known exploits exist in the wild, the immediate threat is low, but the window for exploitation remains until patches are applied.

1. Apply the security updates to macOS Tahoe 26.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.7.3 promptly to ensure the code-signing restrictions are enforced and the vulnerability is remediated. 2. Restrict installation of applications to trusted sources, such as the Apple App Store or enterprise-approved software repositories, to reduce the risk of malicious local apps. 3. Enforce least privilege principles on user accounts, limiting local privileges to reduce the attack surface. 4. Implement endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of monitoring and alerting on suspicious local application behavior or unauthorized access attempts to sensitive data. 5. Conduct regular audits of installed applications and code-signing certificates to detect anomalies or downgrade attempts. 6. Educate users about the risks of installing untrusted software and the importance of reporting unusual system behavior. 7. Consider deploying additional data protection mechanisms such as full disk encryption and application sandboxing to limit data exposure even if local access is compromised.