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How CVE-2025-31242 Works
This vulnerability stems from improper log entry sanitization in macOS logging subsystems. When applications generate diagnostic logs, sensitive user data (such as authentication tokens, credentials, or personal information) may be written to system logs without proper redaction. Malicious apps with standard user privileges can exploit this by querying system logs through unprotected APIs, accessing the leaked data. The flaw affects log-handling components in CoreAnalytics and diagnosticd services, where filtered keywords fail to mask all sensitive patterns. Attackers chain this with log aggregation techniques to reconstruct confidential information from fragmented log entries.
DailyCVE Form
Platform: macOS
Version: Ventura 13.x, Sequoia 15.x, Sonoma 14.x
Vulnerability: Privacy Bypass via Log Leak
Severity: Critical
Date: 05/27/2025
Prediction: Patch expected by 06/15/2025
What Undercode Say:
Exploitation commands (PoC):
log show --predicate 'senderImagePath CONTAINS[bash] "target.app"' --last 1h --debug | grep -E "token|password"
Detection:
sudo auditctl -a exit,always -F arch=b64 -S open -F path=/var/log/ -k sensitive_log_access
Mitigation (pre-patch):
sudo chmod 640 /var/log/.log
sudo chown root:admin /var/log/system.log
defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.CoreAnalytics.plist Disabled -bool YES
AppleScript to monitor log access (run as root):
do shell script "while true; do lsof -n | grep -E '/var/log/|diagnosticd'; sleep 5; done"
Kernel-level protection (requires SIP disable):
sudo kmutil load -p /Library/Extensions/LogGuard.kext
Network capture filter for exfiltration attempts:
tcpdump -i en0 -A 'tcp port 443 and (tcp[((tcp[12:1] & 0xf0) >> 2):4] = 0x504f5354)'
Swift code to audit log permissions:
import Foundation
let logs = try FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory(atPath: "/var/log/")
logs.forEach { log in
let attrs = try! FileManager.default.attributesOfItem(atPath: "/var/log/\(log)")
print("\(log): \(attrs[.posixPermissions]!)")
}
Patch verification post-update:
system_profiler SPInstallHistoryDataType | grep -A5 "Security Update"
csrutil status | grep "Log Protection"
Zsh one-liner to detect vulnerable processes:
ps aux | grep -E '(diagnosticd|logd)' | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | xargs -I {} lsof -p {} | grep '.log'
Sources:
Reported By: nvd.nist.gov
Extra Source Hub:
Undercode
