CVE-2026-20625VulnerabilityPublished 11 Feb 2026Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2026-20625: Apple macOS · An app may be able to access sensitive user data

Affects Apple macOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium · fixed in 26.3 : update Apple macOS when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 14% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 26.3, 15.7.4, 14.8.4

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 11 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade macOS to 26.3, 15.7.4 or 14.8.4; visionOS to 26.3.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
ApplemacOS	Affected <14.8.4 <15.7.4 <26.3	Fixed in 26.3 15.7.4 14.8.4
ApplevisionOS	Affected <26.3	Fixed in 26.3

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-20625, organizations and users should promptly update affected Apple operating systems to the patched versions: macOS Sequoia 15.7.4, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, macOS Tahoe 26.3, and visionOS 26.3. Beyond patching, organizations should implement strict application control policies to restrict installation and execution of untrusted or unsigned applications, reducing the risk of malicious apps exploiting the flaw. Employ endpoint protection solutions capable of detecting suspicious app behaviors related to unauthorized file access. Educate users on the risks of running unknown or unverified applications, emphasizing caution with apps received via email or untrusted sources to mitigate social engineering vectors. Regularly audit and monitor file access logs for unusual activity that might indicate exploitation attempts. Consider deploying macOS security features such as System Integrity Protection (SIP) and sandboxing to limit app capabilities. Finally, maintain up-to-date backups of sensitive data to reduce impact in case of compromise.

Description

A parsing issue in the handling of directory paths was addressed with improved path validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.7.4, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, macOS Tahoe 26.3, visionOS 26.3. An app may be able to access sensitive user data.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-20625 is the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive user data on affected macOS systems. If exploited, attackers could access confidential information without elevated privileges, undermining user privacy and potentially exposing personal or corporate data. While the vulnerability does not affect system integrity or availability, the confidentiality breach could have serious consequences, especially for organizations handling sensitive or regulated data. The requirement for user interaction limits the ease of exploitation but does not eliminate risk, as social engineering or phishing could be used to induce users to run malicious applications. Organizations relying heavily on Apple macOS environments, including enterprises, government agencies, and individuals, face increased risk of data leakage. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate threat but patching remains critical to prevent future attacks. The vulnerability could also be leveraged as part of multi-stage attacks to gain further foothold or escalate privileges indirectly.

CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #6OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks…
Implementation · Input Validation
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174).
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Path Traversal (opens in a new tab)
Using Slashes and URL Encoding Combined to Bypass Validation Logic (opens in a new tab)
Manipulating Web Input to File System Calls (opens in a new tab)
Using Escaped Slashes in Alternate Encoding (opens in a new tab)
Using Slashes in Alternate Encoding (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Apr 2026, 02:50 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-22

Technical details

References

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