Citrix has released a security advisory addressing two critical vulnerabilities affecting Citrix Secure Access Client for Mac.
These vulnerabilities, identified as CVE-2025-1222 and CVE-2025-1223, could allow attackers to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code on affected systems. Given the widespread use of Citrix solutions for secure remote access, these flaws pose a significant risk to organizations that have yet to apply the necessary patches.
Technical Overview
- CVE-2025-1222: A privilege escalation vulnerability that allows a local attacker to obtain elevated access, potentially leading to further exploitation or system compromise.
- CVE-2025-1223: A remote code execution (RCE) flaw that enables attackers to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable Mac endpoint, potentially gaining full control over the system.
Both vulnerabilities impact Citrix Secure Access Client versions that have not been updated to the latest security patch. The risks associated with these flaws include unauthorized access, lateral movement within corporate networks, and potential data exfiltration.
Risk and Exploitation Potential
While there is no confirmation yet of these vulnerabilities being actively exploited in the wild, similar privilege escalation and RCE vulnerabilities have been used in targeted attacks against enterprises in the past.
Given the high value of Citrix environments for adversaries seeking access to corporate networks, organizations should assume that threat actors will develop exploit chains leveraging these flaws.
Recommended Mitigation Steps
Citrix has released patches addressing these vulnerabilities, and organizations should prioritize applying the updates immediately. In addition to patching, security teams should:
- Restrict access to affected systems until patches are deployed.
- Monitor network traffic for signs of suspicious activity associated with Citrix client usage.
- Conduct penetration testing or adversarial exposure validation to assess risk.
- Implement endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to identify abnormal behavior that could indicate exploitation attempts.
How OP Innovate Can Help
OP Innovate’s Continuous Penetration Testing (PTaaS) solution – WASP, identifies and prioritizes vulnerabilities like these before they become a threat.
Our automated scanners will identify most privilege escalation and RCE vulnerabilities by continuously monitoring your assets, while our team of CREST-certified experts conducts in-depth manual testing to validate findings, eliminate false positives, and simulate real-world attack scenarios.
