CVE-2025-54871 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting the Electron Capture (electroncapture) application developed by steveseguin, specifically versions 2.19.1 and below. Electron Capture is a macOS application designed to facilitate video playback for screen-sharing and capture purposes. The vulnerability arises due to improper access control (CWE-284) related to the handling of the environment variable ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE. When this environment variable is set, it causes the Electron framework to run in Node.js mode, allowing execution of arbitrary Node.js code via the -e flag. Critically, this code executes within the main Electron context and inherits any previously granted macOS Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) entitlements, such as access to sensitive directories like Documents and Downloads. This means a local unprivileged user can bypass macOS privacy protections and execute arbitrary code with elevated access to user data without requiring user interaction or elevated privileges beyond local access. The vulnerability does not affect versions 2.20.0 and above, where the issue has been fixed. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.5 (medium), reflecting that the attack vector is local (AV:L), requires low privileges (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), and impacts confidentiality (C:H) but not integrity or availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild. This vulnerability highlights a significant risk in Electron-based macOS applications that improperly handle environment variables, leading to privilege escalation and privacy breaches.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a privacy and data confidentiality risk, especially for those using Electron Capture for screen-sharing or video capture on macOS endpoints. The ability for a local unprivileged user to bypass macOS TCC protections can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive user documents and downloads, potentially exposing personal data, intellectual property, or confidential business information. This is particularly concerning in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and government sectors within Europe, where data protection laws like GDPR impose strict requirements on safeguarding personal data. Although the attack requires local access, insider threats or compromised endpoints could exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges and exfiltrate sensitive data. The lack of impact on integrity and availability reduces the risk of system disruption but does not diminish the confidentiality breach implications. Organizations relying on Electron Capture in macOS environments should consider this vulnerability a significant privacy risk that could lead to compliance violations and reputational damage if exploited.

European organizations should immediately upgrade Electron Capture to version 2.20.0 or later, where the vulnerability is patched. Until the upgrade is applied, organizations should restrict local user access on macOS systems running Electron Capture to trusted personnel only, minimizing the risk of exploitation by unprivileged users. Implementing endpoint security controls such as application whitelisting and monitoring for unusual environment variable usage (specifically ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE) can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should audit macOS TCC permissions regularly to ensure only necessary applications have access to sensitive directories. Employing macOS security features like System Integrity Protection (SIP) and enabling full disk encryption can further reduce the impact of local attacks. Finally, user education about the risks of local privilege escalation and maintaining strict physical and logical access controls on macOS devices are essential complementary measures.