CVE-2025-46774 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-347 (Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature) found in Fortinet's FortiClient for MacOS installer versions 7.4.2 and below, 7.2.9 and below, and all versions of 7.0. The flaw arises because the FortiClientMac installer and related executables fail to properly verify cryptographic signatures, allowing a local attacker with limited privileges to manipulate or replace components in a way that escalates their privileges on the system. The vulnerability requires the attacker to have local access and perform some user interaction, such as running or modifying FortiClient executables. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.8, indicating medium severity, with an attack vector of local (AV:L), high attack complexity (AC:H), low privileges required (PR:L), and user interaction needed (UI:R). The impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high (C:H/I:H/A:H), meaning successful exploitation could lead to full system compromise, data exposure, and disruption of services. No public exploits or active exploitation campaigns have been reported yet, but the vulnerability poses a significant risk to environments where FortiClientMac is deployed, especially in organizations relying on Fortinet for endpoint security on MacOS. The improper signature verification suggests that malicious actors could inject or replace legitimate FortiClient components with malicious payloads, bypassing security controls. This vulnerability is particularly concerning for organizations with multiple MacOS endpoints, as it undermines the trust model of the FortiClient installer and could facilitate lateral movement or persistence by attackers.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-46774 can be substantial. FortiClient is widely used in enterprise environments for endpoint protection and VPN access, including in sectors such as finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure. A successful privilege escalation on MacOS endpoints could allow attackers to gain administrative control, bypass security policies, access sensitive data, and move laterally within networks. This could lead to data breaches, disruption of operations, and compromise of confidential information protected under regulations like GDPR. The requirement for local access and user interaction limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk, especially in environments where endpoint devices are shared, or users have limited security awareness. The vulnerability could also be leveraged by insider threats or malware that gains initial foothold with limited privileges. Given the increasing use of MacOS in European enterprises, the threat surface is non-trivial. The absence of known exploits in the wild provides a window for proactive mitigation, but organizations must act swiftly to prevent potential exploitation.

1. Monitor Fortinet’s official channels for patches addressing CVE-2025-46774 and apply updates immediately upon release. 2. Until patches are available, restrict local user permissions on MacOS endpoints to minimize the risk of privilege escalation. 3. Implement strict application whitelisting and integrity monitoring for FortiClient executables to detect unauthorized modifications. 4. Educate users about the risks of running untrusted software and the importance of not interacting with suspicious prompts related to FortiClient. 5. Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of identifying anomalous behavior involving FortiClient processes. 6. Regularly audit local accounts and remove unnecessary privileges to reduce the attack surface. 7. Use macOS security features such as System Integrity Protection (SIP) and Full Disk Encryption to limit the impact of local attacks. 8. Conduct penetration testing and vulnerability assessments focusing on endpoint privilege escalation vectors to identify and remediate similar weaknesses.