CVE-2024-40788VulnerabilityPublished 29 Jul 2024Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2024-40788: Apple iOS and iPadOS · A local attacker may be able to cause unexpected system shutdown

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.2 Medium · fixed in 16.7.9 : update Apple iOS and iPadOS when convenient.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.2Medium

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 16.7.9

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 29 Jul 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by 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 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apple iOS and iPadOS	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2024-40788, organizations and users should promptly apply the security updates released by Apple, including iOS 16.7.9, iOS 17.6, macOS Monterey 12.7.6, macOS Sonoma 14.6, macOS Ventura 13.6.8, tvOS 17.6, visionOS 1.3, and watchOS 10.6. Beyond patching, organizations should enforce strict physical security controls to limit local access to devices, reducing the risk of exploitation. Device management solutions should be used to monitor and enforce update compliance across all Apple devices. For shared or public-use devices, consider implementing additional access controls or session timeouts to prevent unauthorized local use. Incident response plans should include procedures for handling unexpected device shutdowns to minimize operational impact. Additionally, educating users about the importance of installing updates and reporting unusual device behavior can help detect and mitigate exploitation attempts early. Regular backups and data synchronization can reduce data loss risks associated with unexpected shutdowns.

Description

A type confusion issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in iOS 16.7.9 and iPadOS 16.7.9, iOS 17.6 and iPadOS 17.6, macOS Monterey 12.7.6, macOS Sonoma 14.6, macOS Ventura 13.6.8, tvOS 17.6, visionOS 1.3, watchOS 10.6. A local attacker may be able to cause unexpected system shutdown.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-40788 is on system availability, as it allows a local attacker to cause unexpected shutdowns of Apple devices running vulnerable versions of iOS, iPadOS, and other Apple operating systems. This can lead to denial-of-service conditions, disrupting user productivity and potentially causing data loss if shutdowns occur during critical operations. While confidentiality and integrity are not affected, the availability impact can be significant in environments relying heavily on Apple devices for business continuity, healthcare monitoring, or critical communications. The requirement for local access limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk in scenarios where attackers gain physical access or compromise local user accounts. Organizations with large deployments of Apple devices may face operational disruptions and increased support costs if devices are affected. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not preclude future exploitation attempts. Overall, the vulnerability poses a moderate threat to availability, especially in high-dependency contexts.

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 2 Apr 2026, 23:25 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-843

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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