Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-43286

Access Control in Apple Macos 14.0 – 14.8

Published
15 September 2025
Modified
02 April 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0018 8th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-43286 is a high-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked at the 8th 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 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8, macOS Tahoe 26. An app may be able to break out of its sandbox.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-23230Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-54466Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43331Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-44208Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-24181Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-44156Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-31194Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-24108Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43311Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43318Same product: Apple Macos

Affected Assets

apple
macos
14.0 — 14.8 · 15.0 — 15.7

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • SC-39 Process Isolation
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly enforces authorization checks that would have blocked the sandbox escape described in CVE-2025-43286 (CWE-862).

prevent

Requires processes to operate with only the privileges needed for their sandbox, preventing the unauthorized elevation that enabled the breakout.

prevent

Provides process isolation boundaries whose failure is exactly what allowed an app to escape its macOS sandbox.

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-05 full match
prevents

Explicitly requires defining, enforcing, and reviewing authorizations and least privilege, directly preventing missing authorization checks.

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.

prevents

Requiring authentication and credentials before any access occurs eliminates the absence of authorization checks that would otherwise allow an unauthenticated actor to reach protected resources.

prevents

Requiring formal authorization of every access request before rights are granted ensures that checks for required permissions are performed, preventing missing authorization checks from being introduced.

prevents

Mandatory authorization checks and central records of granted rights ensure that every access attempt is preceded by an explicit decision rather than relying on missing checks.

mitigates

Segregating the approval of access rights from their implementation provides an independent check that reduces the impact of missing authorization checks in the resulting system configuration.

detects

By requiring competent outsiders to verify that every function enforces the need-to-know principle, the control lowers the likelihood that missing authorization checks persist undetected.

prevents

Defining authorization responsibilities and reviewing risk-treatment progress throughout the project lifecycle catches missing authorization checks before the system is deployed.

References