What is CVE-2022-26688?

CVE-2022-26688 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple macOS, classified under Improper Link Resolution Before File Access. CVSS score: 4.4/10. Published 2022-05-26.

How severe is CVE-2022-26688?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.4 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Apple macOS

CVE-2022-26688

An issue in the handling of symlinks was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in Security Update 2022-003 Catalina, macOS Monterey 12.3, macOS Big Sur 11.6.5. A malicious app with root privileges may be able to modify the contents of system files.

Published 2022-05-26 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 4.4 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.004 (35.6th percentile), scored 2026-10-01.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 36th percentile — 35.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.004 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Apple macOS — versions unspecified
Apple Mac OS X — versions 10.15.7

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-59 — Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

References

support.apple.com/en-us/HT213183 (Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)
support.apple.com/en-us/HT213184 (Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)
support.apple.com/en-us/HT213185 (Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2022-26688?: CVE-2022-26688 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple macOS, classified under Improper Link Resolution Before File Access. CVSS score: 4.4/10. Published 2022-05-26.
How severe is CVE-2022-26688?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.4 out of 10.