CVE-2025-31244: 
macOS vulnerability analysis and mitigation

A file quarantine bypass vulnerability (CVE-2025-31244) was discovered in macOS Sequoia and addressed in version 15.5, released on May 12, 2025. The vulnerability was discovered by Csaba Fitzl (@theevilbit) of Kandji, allowing applications to bypass quarantine restrictions and potentially break out of their sandbox environment (Apple Support, NVD).

The vulnerability stems from insufficient checks in the macOS quarantine system, which is designed to isolate untrusted processes. The issue has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating local access requirements but severe potential impact. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-693 (Protection Mechanism Failure) (NVD, Wiz).

When exploited, this vulnerability enables a malicious application to escape its sandbox environment, potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive system resources and data that should normally be restricted. This represents a significant security risk as it bypasses one of macOS's core security mechanisms (Apple Support, Wiz).

Apple has addressed this vulnerability by implementing additional checks in macOS Sequoia 15.5. Users are strongly advised to update their systems to this version to protect against potential exploitation (Apple Support).