CVE-2024-44201VulnerabilityPublished 11 Dec 2024Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2024-44201: Apple iOS and iPadOS · Processing a malicious crafted file may lead to a denial-of-service

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium · fixed in 18.1 : update Apple iOS and iPadOS when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 07:57 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 20% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 18.1

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
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: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
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 11 Dec 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 2026-10-26.

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-2024-44201, organizations should prioritize updating all affected Apple devices to the patched versions: iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, iPadOS 17.7.3, and the corresponding macOS updates. Beyond patching, organizations should implement strict controls on file sources by restricting or scanning files received via email, messaging apps, or downloads to prevent malicious files from reaching users. User education is critical to reduce the risk of opening suspicious files, emphasizing caution with attachments and links from unknown or untrusted sources. Employing mobile device management (MDM) solutions can help enforce update policies and monitor device health. Additionally, enabling system-level protections such as sandboxing and memory protection features can reduce the impact of malformed files. Incident response plans should include procedures for handling DoS conditions on mobile devices to restore functionality quickly. Finally, monitoring for unusual device crashes or user reports can help detect potential exploitation attempts early.

Description

The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1, iPadOS 17.7.3, macOS Sequoia 15.1, macOS Sonoma 14.7.2, macOS Ventura 13.7.2. Processing a malicious crafted file may lead to a denial-of-service.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-44201 is denial-of-service, which can disrupt user productivity and availability of critical mobile services on affected Apple devices. For organizations relying heavily on iOS and iPadOS devices, such as enterprises with mobile workforces, healthcare providers using iPads for patient data access, or government agencies, this could lead to temporary loss of device functionality. While the vulnerability does not expose sensitive data or allow unauthorized code execution, the disruption caused by device crashes can affect operational continuity. In environments where mobile devices are integral to communication, data collection, or control systems, repeated exploitation could degrade service reliability. The requirement for user interaction limits large-scale automated exploitation, but targeted attacks via malicious files (e.g., email attachments, downloads) remain a concern. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for future attacks, especially as threat actors develop new techniques.

CWE-404Improper Resource Shutdown or Release (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use.
Requirements · Language Selection
Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Implementation
It is good practice to be responsible for freeing all resources you allocate and to be consistent with how and where you free memory in a function. If you allocate memory that you intend to free upon completion of the function, you must be sure to free the memory at all exit points for that function including error…
Implementation
Memory should be allocated/freed using matching functions such as malloc/free, new/delete, and new[]/delete[].
Attack patterns
TCP Fragmentation (opens in a new tab)
UDP Fragmentation (opens in a new tab)
ICMP Fragmentation (opens in a new tab)
BlueSmacking (opens in a new tab)
Flooding (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 2 Apr 2026, 23:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-404

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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