CVE-2025-46291
Apple Macos ≤ 26.2
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-46291 is a high-severity Protection Mechanism Failure (CWE-693) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked at the 11th 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 CM-14 (Signed Components) and SI-7 (Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-203961
Vulnerability Data
A logic issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Tahoe 26.2. An app may bypass Gatekeeper checks.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires software components to be digitally signed, which is the core Gatekeeper mechanism bypassed by this logic flaw.
Mandates integrity verification of software prior to execution, directly countering the validation bypass that allows unsigned or unnotarized apps to run.
Requires automated mechanisms to detect and block malicious or unauthorized code, providing secondary protection when Gatekeeper checks are evaded.
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.
Enforcing authentication directly implements a core protection mechanism whose absence or misuse is the CWE.
Defining and enforcing access authorizations is a protection mechanism; proper use prevents the CWE.
Cryptographic and integrity controls are protection mechanisms whose correct deployment mitigates the CWE.
Encryption and integrity protections for transit are explicit protection mechanisms.
Logical network protections are protection mechanisms whose failure matches the CWE.
Hardened configuration baselines ensure protection mechanisms are correctly applied and maintained.
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.
Systematic verification that security mechanisms operate according to defined standards reduces the likelihood that protection mechanisms are bypassed or disabled.
Hardening devices, disabling vulnerable protocols, and maintaining accurate network diagrams reduce the likelihood that a protection mechanism is misconfigured or left in a weak state.
Requiring defined escalation paths, crisis activation criteria, and coordination procedures strengthens the overall protection mechanism so that a single control failure is less likely to leave the organization exposed.
By requiring a documented categorization and decision process for security events, the control ensures that protection mechanisms are not bypassed or ignored when anomalies occur.
Identifying and remediating control weaknesses that contributed to an incident reduces the likelihood that protection mechanisms will fail again.
Post-incident analysis that feeds updated risk assessments and additional controls directly reduces the chance that previously exploited weaknesses will recur.