CVE-2025-46282: 
Apple Safari vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2025-46282 is an improper access control vulnerability in Apple's WebKit engine affecting macOS and Safari. The issue stems from insufficient permissions checks within WebKit, allowing an app to access sensitive user data. It affects macOS Tahoe prior to version 26.2 and Safari prior to version 26.2, and was also patched in Safari 26.2 for macOS Sonoma and macOS Sequoia. Apple disclosed the vulnerability on December 12, 2025, with NVD publication on December 17, 2025. It carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (Medium) (Apple macOS Advisory, Apple Safari Advisory).

The root cause is classified as CWE-284 (Improper Access Control), specifically insufficient permissions checks within the WebKit rendering engine (WebKit Bugzilla: 295941). An app processing web content can exploit this flaw to bypass access controls and read sensitive user data that should be protected. The vulnerability is local in nature, requiring low privileges (or no user interaction per CISA-ADP's assessment), and does not require network access to trigger. The discoverer is Wojciech Regula of SecuRing (Apple macOS Advisory, Apple Safari Advisory).

Successful exploitation allows a malicious app to access sensitive user data that WebKit should protect via permissions controls, resulting in a high confidentiality impact with no integrity or availability impact. The scope is limited to the local system, but the data exposed could include private user information accessible through the browser engine. This vulnerability is distinct from the actively exploited WebKit flaws (CVE-2025-43529 and CVE-2025-14174) patched in the same release, which involved arbitrary code execution (Apple macOS Advisory, Apple Safari Advisory).

Apple has released patches addressing this vulnerability in macOS Tahoe 26.2 and Safari 26.2 (released December 12, 2025). Safari 26.2 also addresses the issue for users on macOS Sonoma and macOS Sequoia. Users should update to macOS Tahoe 26.2 or Safari 26.2 immediately via System Settings > Software Update or the Mac App Store. No configuration-based workarounds have been published by Apple (Apple macOS Advisory, Apple Safari Advisory).

The CIS (Center for Internet Security) issued an advisory noting multiple vulnerabilities in Apple products patched in this release could allow for arbitrary code execution, grouping CVE-2025-46282 with the broader December 2025 Apple security update. The vulnerability was discovered and reported by Wojciech Regula of SecuRing, a well-known macOS security researcher. Community attention was primarily focused on the co-patched CVE-2025-43529 and CVE-2025-14174, which Apple confirmed were exploited in sophisticated targeted attacks, drawing more significant media coverage than CVE-2025-46282 itself (CIS Advisory, Apple macOS Advisory).