CVE-2025-5687
📋 TL;DR
A privilege escalation vulnerability in Mozilla VPN on macOS allows a local user to gain root privileges. This affects macOS users running Mozilla VPN versions 2.28.0 and earlier. The vulnerability stems from improper privilege management (CWE-269).
💻 Affected Systems
- Mozilla VPN
📦 What is this software?
Vpn by Mozilla
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
An attacker with local user access can execute arbitrary code with root privileges, potentially taking full control of the macOS system, installing persistent malware, accessing all user data, and bypassing security controls.
Likely Case
A malicious local user or malware with user-level access escalates to root to install additional payloads, steal credentials, or maintain persistence on the compromised system.
If Mitigated
With proper endpoint security controls and least privilege principles, exploitation would be detected or prevented, limiting damage to isolated systems.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires local user access on the macOS system. The vulnerability details are publicly disclosed in the Mozilla advisory.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Versions after 2.28.0
Vendor Advisory: https://www.mozilla.org/security/advisories/mfsa2025-48/
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Mozilla VPN on macOS. 2. Go to Settings > About. 3. Check for updates and install the latest version. 4. Restart the VPN application. Alternatively, download the latest version from the official Mozilla VPN website.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Uninstall Mozilla VPN
macOSRemove the vulnerable application to eliminate the attack surface.
sudo rm -rf /Applications/Mozilla\ VPN.app
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Mozilla\ VPN
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/org.mozilla.vpn.plist
Restrict local user access
macOSLimit local user accounts on affected macOS systems to trusted users only.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Uninstall Mozilla VPN from affected macOS systems immediately.
- Implement strict endpoint detection and response (EDR) rules to monitor for privilege escalation attempts and unauthorized root access.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check the Mozilla VPN version in the application (Settings > About) or run: defaults read /Applications/Mozilla\ VPN.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionStringCheck Version:
defaults read /Applications/Mozilla\ VPN.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionStringVerify Fix Applied:
Verify the installed version is greater than 2.28.0 using the same command and ensure the application restarts successfully.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected privilege escalation events in macOS system logs
- Mozilla VPN process spawning child processes with root privileges
- Unauthorized changes to system files or directories
Network Indicators:
- None - this is a local exploit
SIEM Query:
source="macos_system_logs" AND (event="privilege_escalation" OR process_name="Mozilla VPN" AND user="root")