Improved handling of symlinks introduced in recent macOS releases reveals that an application can read protected user data that should otherwise be inaccessible. The vulnerability leads to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information and reflects a classic information exposure weakness (CWE‑200).

Systems running macOS prior to the mentioned releases—Sequoia earlier than 15.4, Sonoma earlier than 14.7.5, and Ventura earlier than 13.7.5—are impacted. These versions are still user‑available releases and thus remain susceptible until updated.

The CVSS score of 9.8 indicates a critical severity. The EPSS score of less than 1 % suggests the probability of real‑world exploitation is low at present, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The likely attack vector is local or user‑initiated, inferred from the nature of the symlink handling flaw, though the source of the attack is not directly specified in the available description. Administrators should prioritize patching because the flaw permits direct access to protected data without further compromise.