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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-20677: A race condition was addressed with improved handling of symbolic links

Source GCVE Database

0
Authoritative record:CVE-2026-20677· Critical 9.0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.0 Critical : upgrade to 26.3 or 18.7.5 as a priority.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
9.0Critical
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 24% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 26.3, 18.7.5, 15.7.4 +1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 11 Feb 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

What to do

Upgrade iOS and iPadOS to 26.3 or 18.7.5; macOS to 26.3, 15.7.4 or 14.8.4; visionOS to 26.3.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
AppleiOS and iPadOSAffected
  • <26.3
Fixed in
  • 26.3
AppleiOS and iPadOSAffected
  • <18.7.5
Fixed in
  • 18.7.5
ApplemacOSAffected
  • <26.3
Fixed in
  • 26.3
ApplemacOSAffected
  • <15.7.4
Fixed in
  • 15.7.4
ApplemacOSAffected
  • <14.8.4
Fixed in
  • 14.8.4
ApplevisionOSAffected
  • <26.3
Fixed in
  • 26.3

AI-suggested

The vulnerability has been fixed in the specified versions of Apple operating systems: macOS Tahoe 26.3, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, iOS 18.7.5, iPadOS 18.7.5, visionOS 26.3, iOS 26.3, and iPadOS 26.3. Users and administrators should apply these updates promptly to mitigate the risk. No additional mitigation steps are indicated beyond applying the official patches.

Description

CVE-2026-20677 is a critical race condition vulnerability related to symbolic link handling in Apple operating systems. The flaw could allow a shortcut to bypass sandbox restrictions, potentially leading to full system compromise. The issue affects multiple Apple OS versions and has been addressed in recent updates.

References

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