Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-43245

Auth Bypass in Apple Macos ≤ 13.7.7

Auth Bypass
Published
30 July 2025
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0069 49th percentile
Risk Priority 72 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-43245 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass by Spoofing (CWE-290) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Adversary-in-the-Middle (T1557); ranked at the 49th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)) and IA-3 (Device Identification and Authentication) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2025-43245 is a downgrade issue addressed with additional code-signing restrictions in macOS. It affects macOS Sequoia prior to version 15.6, macOS Sonoma prior to 14.7.7, and macOS Ventura prior to 13.7.7. The vulnerability enables an app to access protected user data and is associated with CWE-290. Published on 2025-07-30, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

The vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network with low attack complexity, requiring no privileges, no user interaction, and no change in scope. A successful attacker can achieve high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially allowing unauthorized access to protected user data via a malicious app.

Apple's security advisories confirm the issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.6, macOS Sonoma 14.7.7, and macOS Ventura 13.7.7. Mitigation involves updating to these patched versions. Further details are provided in the referenced advisories, including https://support.apple.com/en-us/124149, https://support.apple.com/en-us/124150, https://support.apple.com/en-us/124151, http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2025/Jul/32, and http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2025/Jul/33.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A07:2025 Authentication Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A downgrade issue was addressed with additional code-signing restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.6, macOS Sonoma 14.7.7, macOS Ventura 13.7.7. An app may be able to access protected user data.

CWE(s)
CWE-290

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1557 Adversary-in-the-Middle Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to position themselves between two or more networked devices using an adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) technique to support follow-on behaviors such as [Network Sniffing](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
T1557.001 Name Resolution Poisoning and SMB Relay Credential Access
By responding to LLMNR/NBT-NS/mDNS network traffic, adversaries may spoof an authoritative source for name resolution to force communication with an adversary controlled system.
attack.mitre.org →
T1036 Masquerading Stealth
Adversaries may attempt to manipulate features of their artifacts to make them appear legitimate or benign to users and/or security tools.
attack.mitre.org →
T1036.001 Invalid Code Signature Stealth
Adversaries may attempt to mimic features of valid code signatures to increase the chance of deceiving a user, analyst, or tool.
attack.mitre.org →
T1134 Access Token Manipulation Stealth
Adversaries may modify access tokens to operate under a different user or system security context to perform actions and bypass access controls.
attack.mitre.org →
T1134.001 Token Impersonation/Theft Stealth
Adversaries may duplicate then impersonate another user's existing token to escalate privileges and bypass access controls.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-27853Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-42889Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-28954Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-27962Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-54490Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-27944Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43274Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43516Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-23493Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43281Same product: Apple Macos

Affected Assets

apple
macos
≤ 13.7.7 · 14.0 — 14.7.7 · 15.0 — 15.6

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.4.3
  • V10.4.16
  • V10.5.1
  • V11.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

IA-2 Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users) good match

Proper unique identification and authentication of users directly stops spoofing-based bypass of authentication.

IA-3 Device Identification and Authentication good match

Device identification and authentication before connection prevents spoofing of devices to bypass auth.

IA-8 Identification and Authentication (Non-organizational Users) good match

Authentication of non-organizational users blocks external spoofing attempts against the scheme.

IA-5 Authenticator Management good match

Authenticator management ensures credentials cannot be easily spoofed or reused to bypass authentication.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-04 full match
prevents

Protecting, conveying, and verifying identity assertions specifically prevents the spoofing that enables authentication bypass.

PR.AA-03 mostly match
prevents

Requiring authentication of users/services/hardware directly counters spoofing-based bypass when strong methods are used.

PR.AA-02 partial match
prevents

Proofing and binding identities reduces spoofing opportunities during enrollment but does not address runtime authentication implementation flaws.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.5 Secure authentication full match
degrades

Secure authentication control directly mitigates authentication bypass by spoofing.

A.5.17 Authentication information mostly match
degrades

Authentication information management directly addresses credential handling that prevents spoofing.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect spoofing vulnerabilities but does not prevent them by itself.

A.5.15 Access control partial match
prevents

Access control policy reduces spoofing opportunities but does not prescribe authentication mechanisms.

A.5.16 Identity management partial match
prevents

Identity management supports unique identities but does not guarantee resistance to spoofing.

A.5.18 Access rights partial match
prevents

Access rights assignment limits exposure but does not enforce authentication strength.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-290
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
  • V-204442 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-290
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230492 RHEL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-290

References