CVE-2025-24091: An app may be able to cause a denial-of-service in Apple iPadOS
An app could impersonate system notifications. Sensitive notifications now require restricted entitlements. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, iPadOS 17.7.3. An app may be able to cause a denial-of-service.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
CVE-2025-24091 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting Apple iPadOS, where a malicious app could impersonate system notifications to cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability stems from insufficient entitlement restrictions on sensitive notifications, allowing an app without proper privileges to generate deceptive system notifications. This can lead to resource exhaustion or system instability, effectively causing the device to become unresponsive or crash. Apple has addressed this issue by requiring restricted entitlements for sensitive notifications in iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and iPadOS 17.7.3. The vulnerability does not impact confidentiality or integrity but solely affects availability. The CVSS 3.1 score is 5.5 (medium), with the vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H indicating local attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, user interaction needed, unchanged scope, no confidentiality or integrity impact, and high impact on availability. No known exploits are reported in the wild as of the publication date. The vulnerability is related to CWE-290 (Authentication Bypass by Spoofing). The affected versions are unspecified but presumably all iPadOS versions prior to the patched releases are vulnerable.
Potential Impact
For European organizations, the primary impact of this vulnerability is the potential disruption of iPadOS devices used within corporate environments, especially where iPads are employed for critical business functions, presentations, or customer interactions. A denial-of-service could interrupt workflows, cause loss of productivity, and require device reboots or resets. While no data breach or integrity compromise is involved, the availability impact could affect sectors relying on iPads for point-of-sale, healthcare, education, or field operations. The requirement for user interaction limits automated exploitation but does not eliminate risk, particularly in environments where users may install unvetted apps or are targeted by social engineering. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk but patching remains essential to prevent future abuse. Organizations with large deployments of iPadOS devices should consider this vulnerability in their risk assessments and incident response planning.
Mitigation Recommendations
1. Ensure all iPadOS devices are updated promptly to iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, or iPadOS 17.7.3 or later, which contain the fix requiring restricted entitlements for sensitive notifications. 2. Implement strict app installation policies using Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions to restrict installation to vetted and trusted apps only, minimizing the risk of malicious apps causing DoS. 3. Educate users about the risks of installing apps from untrusted sources and the importance of scrutinizing system notifications, especially those requesting interaction. 4. Monitor device performance and logs for signs of abnormal notification activity or crashes that could indicate exploitation attempts. 5. Employ network-level controls to limit app communication if possible, reducing the attack surface. 6. For high-security environments, consider restricting local user permissions to prevent installation of unauthorized apps and enforce usage of managed app stores only. 7. Maintain an inventory of iPadOS versions in use to identify and prioritize devices needing updates.
Affected Countries
Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Poland, Ireland
CVE-2025-24091: An app may be able to cause a denial-of-service in Apple iPadOS
Description
An app could impersonate system notifications. Sensitive notifications now require restricted entitlements. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, iPadOS 17.7.3. An app may be able to cause a denial-of-service.
AI-Powered Analysis
Technical Analysis
CVE-2025-24091 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting Apple iPadOS, where a malicious app could impersonate system notifications to cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability stems from insufficient entitlement restrictions on sensitive notifications, allowing an app without proper privileges to generate deceptive system notifications. This can lead to resource exhaustion or system instability, effectively causing the device to become unresponsive or crash. Apple has addressed this issue by requiring restricted entitlements for sensitive notifications in iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and iPadOS 17.7.3. The vulnerability does not impact confidentiality or integrity but solely affects availability. The CVSS 3.1 score is 5.5 (medium), with the vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H indicating local attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, user interaction needed, unchanged scope, no confidentiality or integrity impact, and high impact on availability. No known exploits are reported in the wild as of the publication date. The vulnerability is related to CWE-290 (Authentication Bypass by Spoofing). The affected versions are unspecified but presumably all iPadOS versions prior to the patched releases are vulnerable.
Potential Impact
For European organizations, the primary impact of this vulnerability is the potential disruption of iPadOS devices used within corporate environments, especially where iPads are employed for critical business functions, presentations, or customer interactions. A denial-of-service could interrupt workflows, cause loss of productivity, and require device reboots or resets. While no data breach or integrity compromise is involved, the availability impact could affect sectors relying on iPads for point-of-sale, healthcare, education, or field operations. The requirement for user interaction limits automated exploitation but does not eliminate risk, particularly in environments where users may install unvetted apps or are targeted by social engineering. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk but patching remains essential to prevent future abuse. Organizations with large deployments of iPadOS devices should consider this vulnerability in their risk assessments and incident response planning.
Mitigation Recommendations
1. Ensure all iPadOS devices are updated promptly to iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, or iPadOS 17.7.3 or later, which contain the fix requiring restricted entitlements for sensitive notifications. 2. Implement strict app installation policies using Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions to restrict installation to vetted and trusted apps only, minimizing the risk of malicious apps causing DoS. 3. Educate users about the risks of installing apps from untrusted sources and the importance of scrutinizing system notifications, especially those requesting interaction. 4. Monitor device performance and logs for signs of abnormal notification activity or crashes that could indicate exploitation attempts. 5. Employ network-level controls to limit app communication if possible, reducing the attack surface. 6. For high-security environments, consider restricting local user permissions to prevent installation of unauthorized apps and enforce usage of managed app stores only. 7. Maintain an inventory of iPadOS versions in use to identify and prioritize devices needing updates.
For access to advanced analysis and higher rate limits, contact root@offseq.com
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.1
- Assigner Short Name
- apple
- Date Reserved
- 2025-01-17T00:00:44.966Z
- Cisa Enriched
- true
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 682d983ac4522896dcbed6ce
Added to database: 5/21/2025, 9:09:14 AM
Last enriched: 6/25/2025, 12:47:37 PM
Last updated: 8/14/2025, 2:48:35 PM
Views: 11
Related Threats
CVE-2025-3495: CWE-338 Use of Cryptographically Weak Pseudo-Random Number Generator (PRNG) in Delta Electronics COMMGR
CriticalCVE-2025-53948: CWE-415 Double Free in Santesoft Sante PACS Server
HighCVE-2025-52584: CWE-122 Heap-based Buffer Overflow in Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt
HighCVE-2025-46269: CWE-122 Heap-based Buffer Overflow in Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt
HighCVE-2025-54862: CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation (XSS or 'Cross-site Scripting') in Santesoft Sante PACS Server
MediumActions
Updates to AI analysis are available only with a Pro account. Contact root@offseq.com for access.
External Links
Need enhanced features?
Contact root@offseq.com for Pro access with improved analysis and higher rate limits.