Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-43463

Path Traversal in Apple Macos ≤ 14.8.3

Published
12 December 2025
Modified
02 April 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
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:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0020 10th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-43463 is a medium-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked at the 10th 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A parsing issue in the handling of directory paths was addressed with improved path validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.7.3, macOS Sonoma 14.8.3, macOS Tahoe 26.1. An app may be able to access sensitive user data.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-40383Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-28827Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-24268Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43314Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-28915Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43196Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43191Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-44190Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43206Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-27887Same product: Apple Macos

Affected Assets

apple
macos
≤ 14.8.3 · 15.0 — 15.7.3 · 26.0 — 26.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires validation of path inputs to block traversal sequences that would otherwise allow an app to escape its sandbox and read sensitive user data.

prevent

Enforces that file-system access decisions are made against the intended directory scope, stopping the unauthorized reads that result from the path-parsing flaw.

prevent

Limits the privileges granted to apps so that even a successful path traversal yields minimal additional sensitive data beyond what the app is already authorized to access.

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.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
prevents

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

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.

detects

Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.

prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.

References