Local Privilege Escalation in AWS Client VPN for macOS Log Rotation
CVE-2025-11462 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability affecting AWS Client VPN Client for macOS versions 1.3.2 through 5.2.0. The flaw is caused by improper link resolution and insufficient validation of the log destination directory during log rotation. A local non-administrative user can create a symbolic link from a VPN client log file to a privileged file or location, such as /etc/crontab. By issuing crafted API calls that cause attacker-controlled content to be written into the client log, and then triggering log rotation, the application may follow the symlink and write that content into the privileged target while operating with elevated privileges. This can result in arbitrary code execution as root.
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Impact, mitigation & remediation
What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.
Impact
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
Mitigation
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Remediation
Patch, then assume compromise.
Exploits
No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.
No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.
Affected products & vendors
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
Recent activity
17 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A vulnerability in AWS Client VPN for macOS, listed as a trending CVE for the week. No further details provided.
A local privilege escalation vulnerability in AWS Client VPN for macOS caused by improper validation of log file paths during log rotation, allowing symlink abuse to write attacker-controlled content to privileged files and gain root.
The version that knows your environment.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.