CVE-2026-20694
Apple Macos 14.0 – 14.8.4
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NSummary
CVE-2026-20694 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 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
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-15068
Vulnerability Data
This issue was addressed with improved handling of symlinks. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, macOS Sequoia 15.7.4, macOS Sequoia 15.7.5, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, macOS Sonoma 14.8.5, macOS Tahoe 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.4. An app may…
more
be able to access user-sensitive data.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Symlink resolution flaw directly enables unauthorized local file access by an app, mapping to data collection from the local system.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly enforces access control decisions on file resources so that symlink traversal cannot bypass intended permissions to reach sensitive user data.
Requires validation of file paths and names supplied to the system, blocking improper symlink resolution before file access occurs.
Ensures information in shared system resources (e.g., temporary directories) is protected from unauthorized access via malicious symlinks created by another process.
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.
Secure SDLC practices directly require code to validate paths and avoid unsafe link following.
Vulnerability identification can discover existing symlink issues but does not prevent or remediate them in code.
Least-privilege access policies can limit damage from symlink attacks but do not address the coding flaw itself.
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.
Security testing can detect link-following flaws before release.
Secure SDLC practices can mandate link-resolution checks and canonicalization before file access.
Application security requirements can explicitly require safe handling of symbolic links and path traversal.
Secure architecture principles include input validation and safe file-access design patterns.
Secure coding standards directly address canonicalization and symlink attacks during implementation.
Access-control rules can restrict which files a process may open, reducing symlink-following risk but not eliminating the underlying path-resolution flaw.