Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-20633

Apple Macos 14.0 – 14.8.5

Published
25 March 2026
Modified
25 March 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0021 11th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-20633 is a medium-severity Link Following (CWE-59) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Local System (T1005); 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 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

This issue was addressed with improved handling of symlinks. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.7.5, macOS Sonoma 14.8.5, macOS Tahoe 26.4. An app may be able to access user-sensitive data.

CWE(s)
CWE-59

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Symlink handling flaw (CWE-59) directly enables unauthorized local file reads of user-sensitive data by an app, mapping to T1005.

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-24103Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43394Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-24146Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-44219Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-46293Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43381Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-31198Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-24181Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-24204Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43252Same product: Apple Macos

Affected Assets

apple
macos
14.0 — 14.8.5 · 15.0 — 15.7.5 · 26.0 — 26.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V15.4.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match
prevent

Directly enforces access control policies on file operations to block unauthorized symlink traversal to sensitive user data.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Requires timely application of the vendor patches that improve symlink handling and close the described link-following flaw.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match
prevent

Limits application privileges so that even successful symlink traversal yields minimal additional access to user data.

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-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require code to validate paths and avoid unsafe link following.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
detects

Security testing can detect link-following flaws before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices can mandate link-resolution checks and canonicalization before file access.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can explicitly require safe handling of symbolic links and path traversal.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles include input validation and safe file-access design patterns.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly address canonicalization and symlink attacks during implementation.

A.8.3 Information access restriction none match
none

Access-control rules can limit which files are reachable, reducing exposure to malicious links.

References