Overview
A severe vulnerability (CVE-2025-24266) has been identified in Apple’s macOS, posing a significant risk due to a buffer overflow issue. This flaw can lead to unexpected system termination, which could result in the loss of data or a system crash. The issue stems from improper bounds checking and affects multiple macOS versions.
Vulnerability Description
The vulnerability arises from a buffer overflow, a common programming issue where data is written beyond the boundaries of a buffer, causing unpredictable behavior. In this case, an attacker could exploit this flaw to cause an app to unexpectedly terminate the system.
Specifically, the following macOS versions are affected:
- macOS Ventura (pre-13.7.5)
- macOS Sequoia (pre-15.4)
- macOS Sonoma (pre-14.7.5)
Apple has addressed this issue in macOS updates, including Ventura 13.7.5, Sequoia 15.4, and Sonoma 14.7.5. Users are strongly encouraged to update their systems to avoid potential exploitation.
Impact and CVSS Score
This vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS score of 9.8 (Critical), indicating that it could have a severe impact on system integrity, availability, and confidentiality. The full CVSS vector for CVE-2025-24266 is as follows:
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Here’s a breakdown of the CVSS score:
- Attack Vector (AV): Network (the attack can be initiated remotely)
- Attack Complexity (AC): Low (no special conditions required)
- Privileges Required (PR): None (no authentication needed)
- User Interaction (UI): None (no user involvement required)
- Confidentiality Impact (C): High (sensitive data could be compromised)
- Integrity Impact (I): High (system integrity could be affected)
- Availability Impact (A): High (system could be rendered unavailable)
Technical Details
The vulnerability is caused by improper bounds checking, a flaw in software that causes a buffer overflow. In this case, an attacker can exploit this to trigger an unexpected termination of the system. This could result in data loss or disruption of system operations, posing significant security risks.
Resolution
Apple has released patches for this vulnerability in the latest macOS versions. The affected versions are fixed in:
- macOS Ventura 13.7.5
- macOS Sequoia 15.4
- macOS Sonoma 14.7.5
It is strongly recommended that all users update their macOS devices to these versions to protect against potential exploitation of this vulnerability. Apple also provides support links with further details:
Conclusion
This vulnerability represents a critical security risk for macOS users. Ensuring that your system is updated to the latest macOS versions is essential to maintaining the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of your data. Regular updates are the best defense against these types of vulnerabilities.