VulnerabilityPublished 16 Sep 2024Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2024-44165: Apple iOS and iPadOS · Network traffic may leak outside a VPN tunnel

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High · fixed in 17.7 : patch Apple iOS and iPadOS soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 55% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 17.7

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

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

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
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: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 16 Sep 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 26 Oct 2026.

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 or the CVSS exploit maturity 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 this vulnerability, organizations and users should promptly update affected Apple devices to the patched OS versions: iOS 17.7 or later, iPadOS 17.7 or later, macOS Sequoia 15, Sonoma 14.7, Ventura 13.7, or visionOS 2. If you cannot patch yet, users should avoid connecting to untrusted or public networks when using VPNs on vulnerable devices. Network administrators can implement additional monitoring to detect anomalous traffic patterns that may indicate VPN leakage. Employing endpoint security solutions that monitor network interfaces for unexpected traffic can help identify exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider multi-factor authentication and encryption at the application layer to protect sensitive data even if VPN protections fail. Regularly auditing VPN configurations and ensuring that split tunneling is disabled can reduce the risk of traffic leakage. Finally, educating users about the importance of timely updates and secure network practices is critical.

Description

A logic issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in iOS 17.7 and iPadOS 17.7, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia 15, macOS Sonoma 14.7, macOS Ventura 13.7, visionOS 2. Network traffic may leak outside a VPN tunnel.

Impact

The primary impact of this vulnerability is the potential exposure of sensitive network traffic that was expected to be protected by the VPN tunnel. Organizations using Apple devices for remote work, secure communications, or accessing internal resources via VPN may experience confidentiality breaches if attackers intercept leaked traffic. This can lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including corporate secrets, personally identifiable information (PII), authentication tokens, or other confidential data. The vulnerability does not affect data integrity or availability but compromises the trustworthiness of VPN protections. Industries with high security requirements such as finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure are particularly at risk. Additionally, users on public or untrusted Wi-Fi networks are more vulnerable to interception attacks exploiting this flaw. The scope includes all affected Apple devices running vulnerable OS versions, which have significant global market penetration, increasing the potential scale of impact.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 2 Apr 2026, 23:49 UTC

Technical details

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