CVE-2025-46290: macOS Denial-of-Service Vulnerability

CVE-2025-46290 Overview

CVE-2025-46290 is a logic issue vulnerability affecting Apple macOS that allows a remote attacker to cause a denial-of-service condition. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation checks within the macOS operating system. Apple has addressed this issue with improved checks in the affected macOS versions.

Critical Impact
A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial-of-service, potentially disrupting system availability without requiring authentication or user interaction.

Affected Products

macOS Sequoia versions prior to 15.7.4
macOS Sonoma versions prior to 14.8.4

Discovery Timeline

2026-02-11 - CVE-2025-46290 published to NVD
2026-02-12 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-46290

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-693 (Protection Mechanism Failure), indicating that a security mechanism within macOS fails to properly protect against certain conditions. The flaw allows remote attackers to trigger a denial-of-service condition by exploiting the logic error in the system's validation routines.

The attack can be initiated remotely over the network without requiring any privileges or user interaction, making it particularly concerning for systems exposed to untrusted networks. The impact is limited to availability, meaning the vulnerability does not allow attackers to read or modify sensitive data, but can disrupt normal system operations.

Root Cause

The root cause is a logic issue in macOS's processing routines that fails to properly validate certain inputs or conditions. Apple's security advisory indicates that the issue was addressed with "improved checks," suggesting that the original validation logic was insufficient to handle edge cases or malformed inputs that could trigger the denial-of-service condition.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is exploitable over the network, requiring no authentication or user interaction. An attacker can remotely send specially crafted requests or data to a vulnerable macOS system to trigger the denial-of-service condition. The low attack complexity means that exploitation does not require specialized conditions or extensive technical knowledge once the attack vector is identified.

The denial-of-service mechanism involves triggering the logic flaw in a way that causes the system to enter an unstable state or consume excessive resources, resulting in service disruption.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-46290

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected system crashes or kernel panics on macOS systems
Unusual network traffic patterns targeting specific macOS services
System logs showing repeated service failures or restarts
Performance degradation coinciding with incoming network connections

Detection Strategies

Monitor macOS system logs for crash reports or kernel panics that may indicate exploitation attempts
Implement network traffic analysis to detect anomalous patterns targeting macOS systems
Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to identify denial-of-service attack patterns
Use SentinelOne's behavioral AI to detect unusual system resource consumption or service disruptions

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose logging for macOS network services to capture potential exploitation attempts
Configure alerting for system stability events and unexpected service restarts
Monitor network connections for unusual patterns from external sources
Implement baseline monitoring for normal system resource utilization to detect anomalies

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-46290

Immediate Actions Required

Update macOS Sequoia systems to version 15.7.4 or later immediately
Update macOS Sonoma systems to version 14.8.4 or later immediately
Prioritize patching for systems exposed to untrusted networks
Review network access controls to limit exposure of macOS systems pending patching

Patch Information

Apple has released security updates that address this vulnerability:

macOS Sequoia 15.7.4 - Full patch available. See Apple Security Advisory 126349 for details.
macOS Sonoma 14.8.4 - Full patch available. See Apple Security Advisory 126350 for details.

Organizations should apply these updates through standard macOS software update mechanisms or enterprise deployment tools such as MDM (Mobile Device Management) solutions.

Workarounds

Implement network segmentation to limit exposure of unpatched macOS systems to untrusted networks
Deploy network-level protections such as firewalls to restrict access to potentially vulnerable services
Consider temporarily isolating critical macOS systems from external network access until patching is complete
Monitor for Apple's security advisories for any additional mitigation guidance

bash

# Check current macOS version
sw_vers

# Verify system is running patched version (15.7.4 for Sequoia or 14.8.4 for Sonoma)
softwareupdate --list

# Install available updates
softwareupdate --install --all