CVE-2024-44259VulnerabilityPublished 28 Oct 2024Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2024-44259: Apple Safari · An attacker may be able to misuse a trust relationship to download malicious content

Affects Apple SafariSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.8 High · fixed in 18.1 : patch Apple Safari soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.8High

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

EPSS: 1.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 63% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 18.1

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

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

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: 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: 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: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to 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 28 Oct 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 Safari	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2024-44259, organizations should immediately deploy the security updates released by Apple: Safari 18.1, iOS 17.7.1 and 18.1, iPadOS 17.7.1 and 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1, and visionOS 2.1. Beyond patching, organizations should implement strict web content filtering to block access to known malicious sites and employ DNS filtering to reduce exposure to phishing domains. User education is critical; training users to recognize suspicious links and avoid interacting with untrusted websites can reduce the risk of exploitation. Deploy endpoint protection solutions capable of detecting and blocking malicious downloads and behaviors associated with exploitation attempts. Network monitoring for unusual download patterns or connections to suspicious domains can provide early detection. Additionally, organizations should enforce the principle of least privilege on user devices to limit the impact of any successful exploit. Regularly auditing and updating browser configurations to disable unnecessary plugins or features that could be abused is recommended. Finally, incident response plans should be updated to include scenarios involving browser-based trust relationship exploits.

Description

This issue was addressed through improved state management. This issue is fixed in Safari 18.1, iOS 17.7.1 and iPadOS 17.7.1, iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1, visionOS 2.1. An attacker may be able to misuse a trust relationship to download malicious content.

Impact

The potential impact of CVE-2024-44259 is significant for organizations worldwide that use Apple devices and Safari as their web browser. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized downloading of malicious content, which may result in malware infections, data breaches, or disruption of services. This can compromise sensitive corporate data, intellectual property, and user privacy. The vulnerability affects confidentiality by enabling attackers to potentially access or exfiltrate data, integrity by allowing malicious content to be introduced, and availability by possibly causing system instability or denial of service. Given the widespread use of Apple devices in enterprise, education, and government sectors, the risk extends across multiple industries. The requirement for user interaction means phishing or social engineering campaigns could be leveraged to trigger the exploit. Although no known exploits are currently active in the wild, the high CVSS score and broad platform coverage make this vulnerability a high-priority risk. Organizations that delay patching may face targeted attacks exploiting this flaw to gain footholds or deploy ransomware and other malware.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Apr 2026, 00:05 UTC

Technical details

References

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