CVE-2025-4960
CVE-2025-4960 — macOS Local Privilege Escalation via Improper Authorization Handling in EPSON Printer Controller Installer
The com.epson.InstallNavi.helper tool, deployed with the EPSON printer driver installer, contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability due to multiple flaws in its implementation. It fails to properly authenticate clients over the XPC protocol and does not correctly enforce macOS’s authorization model, exposing privileged functionality to untrusted users. Although it invokes the AuthorizationCopyRights API, it does so using overly permissive custom rights that it registers in the system’s authorization database (/var/db/auth.db). These rights can be requested and granted by the authorization daemon to any local user, regardless of privilege level. As a result, an attacker can exploit the vulnerable service to perform privileged operations such as executing arbitrary commands or installing system components without requiring administrative credentials.
Published Updated Sources: cvelistV5, Pentraze
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the scoring sources call it.
Exploitation
Unreported
no source claims exploitation
EPSS
0%
chance of exploitation in 30 days
CVSS base
7.8
HIGH
CISA SSVC assessment
Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses · SSVC 2.0.3. A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.
Exploitation
PoC
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script all four kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component
Affected scope
The catalog records vendors and products as separate lists, not pairs, so which product belongs to which vendor is not something this page can say.
Vendors (1)
Products (1)
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.8 | CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | — | — | cvelistV5 |
Weakness & attack patterns
- CWE-863
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not rules we have tested.
- Search application, proxy, and WAF logs for requests touching /var/db/auth.db).
References
2 on the record
Elsewhere on this site
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.