Overview
The CVE-2025-31189 is a critical vulnerability that affects certain versions of macOS, namely Ventura 13.7.5, Sequoia 15.4, and Sonoma 14.7.5. This vulnerability allows an application to potentially break out of its sandbox, leading to possible system compromise or data leakage. The impact of this vulnerability is far-reaching, given the number of systems running these versions of macOS and the potential damage that can be caused if the vulnerability is exploited. Therefore, it’s imperative for users and administrators to understand this vulnerability and take the necessary steps to mitigate it.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-31189
Severity: High (8.2 CVSS score)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
macOS Ventura | Prior to 13.7.5
macOS Sequoia | Prior to 15.4
macOS Sonoma | Prior to 14.7.5
How the Exploit Works
The exploit takes advantage of a weakness in the file quarantine system of the affected macOS versions. In normal operations, macOS uses sandboxing to restrict an application’s access to system resources and data. However, this vulnerability allows an application to bypass these restrictions. If an attacker can get a user to run a malicious application, the application can break out of its sandbox and gain unauthorized access to system resources and data.
Conceptual Example Code
A conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited is an application that sends a request to change its own sandbox restrictions, like this:
$ sandbox-exec -n no-network /path/to/vulnerable/application
# The malicious app then performs actions it normally wouldn't be able to:
$ touch ~/Documents/ImportantFile
$ echo "Sensitive data" > ~/Documents/ImportantFileThis conceptual example illustrates how a malicious app could break out of its sandbox and perform actions it normally wouldn’t be able to, such as creating and writing to a file in the user’s Documents folder.
In this example, `sandbox-exec -n no-network /path/to/vulnerable/application` is a command that an attacker could use to execute the malicious app with sandbox restrictions in place, and the subsequent commands are examples of actions the app could perform after bypassing these restrictions.