CVE-2025-46774 is a vulnerability identified in Fortinet's FortiClient for MacOS, specifically in versions 7.4.2 and below, 7.2.9 and below, and all versions of 7.0. The root cause is an improper verification of cryptographic signatures (CWE-347) in the FortiClient MacOS installer. This flaw allows a local user with limited privileges to escalate their privileges by exploiting FortiClient-related executables. The vulnerability requires local access and user interaction, and the attack complexity is high, meaning exploitation is non-trivial but feasible under certain conditions. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.8, reflecting a medium severity level. The vector indicates that the attack requires local access (AV:L), high attack complexity (AC:H), low privileges (PR:L), and user interaction (UI:R). The scope is changed (S:C), indicating that exploitation can affect resources beyond the initially vulnerable component. The impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high (C:H/I:H/A:H), meaning an attacker could gain significant control over the system, potentially compromising sensitive data and system stability. No public exploits are known at this time, and no patches have been linked yet, but the vulnerability has been officially published and reserved by Fortinet. This vulnerability is particularly concerning for environments where FortiClientMac is widely deployed, as it could allow malicious insiders or compromised local users to elevate privileges and perform unauthorized actions.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk especially in environments where FortiClientMac is deployed for endpoint security and VPN access. Successful exploitation could allow a local attacker to gain elevated privileges, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data, disruption of security controls, and the ability to execute arbitrary code with higher privileges. This could compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical systems. Organizations in sectors such as finance, government, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, which rely heavily on Fortinet solutions for secure remote access and endpoint protection, are at higher risk. The requirement for local access and user interaction limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk from insider threats or compromised endpoints. The medium severity rating suggests that while the vulnerability is serious, it is not trivially exploitable, giving organizations a window to implement mitigations and patches before widespread exploitation occurs.

1. Restrict local user permissions to the minimum necessary, preventing unprivileged users from executing or modifying FortiClient-related executables. 2. Implement strict endpoint monitoring to detect anomalous behavior or unauthorized attempts to escalate privileges via FortiClient components. 3. Enforce application whitelisting and integrity checks on FortiClient executables to prevent tampering. 4. Educate users about the risks of interacting with untrusted installers or files that could exploit this vulnerability. 5. Monitor Fortinet’s advisories closely and apply official patches or updates as soon as they become available. 6. Consider deploying endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of detecting privilege escalation attempts. 7. Use macOS security features such as System Integrity Protection (SIP) and full disk encryption to limit the impact of local attacks. 8. Conduct regular audits of local user accounts and permissions to minimize the attack surface.