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PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2025-43290 Apple CVE debrief

A permissions issue in macOS allowed apps to modify protected parts of the file system. Apple addressed this with additional restrictions in macOS Sequoia 15.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8, and macOS Tahoe 26. The vulnerability was published on May 26, 2026. No CVSS score or severity rating has been assigned by NVD. This issue is not listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Vendor
Apple
Product
macOS
CVSS
MEDIUM 5.5
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2026-05-26
Original CVE updated
2026-07-23
Advisory published
2026-05-26
Advisory updated
2026-07-23

Who should care

macOS system administrators, endpoint security teams, and organizations with managed Apple fleets should prioritize patching. The vulnerability could enable persistence mechanisms or system compromise if exploited by malicious software with local access.

Technical summary

This vulnerability stems from insufficient permission restrictions in macOS that could allow a malicious or compromised application to modify protected areas of the file system. The attack vector is local, requiring an application to execute on the target system. Apple's fix implements additional restrictions to prevent unauthorized modifications to protected file system locations. The cross-version patching (Sequoia, Sonoma, and Tahoe) indicates the underlying issue affected multiple macOS branches.

Defensive priority

medium

Recommended defensive actions

  • Apply the relevant security update: macOS Sequoia 15.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8, or macOS Tahoe 26
  • Review application permissions and file system access controls on managed macOS endpoints
  • Monitor for unusual file system modifications in protected directories on unpatched systems
  • Validate that endpoint protection solutions detect attempts to modify protected system locations

Evidence notes

The CVE description confirms this is a permissions issue resolved through additional restrictions. Apple security update pages (HT201222 family) are the authoritative source for patch availability. Vendor identification as Apple is based on reference domain evidence with low confidence due to canonical source weakness; the vendor field requires review.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2025-43290 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-43290

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2025-43290 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-43290

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

Supplemental references

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.