VulnerabilityPublished 27 Jan 2025Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2025-24104: Apple iOS and iPadOS · Link Following

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium · fixed in 18.3 : update Apple iOS and iPadOS when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

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

EPSS: 1.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 74% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 18.3

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

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

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: 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: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 27 Jan 2025
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 CVE-2025-24104, organizations and users should: 1) Immediately update all iOS and iPadOS devices to versions 18.3, 17.7.4, or later where the vulnerability is patched. 2) Avoid restoring backups from untrusted or unknown sources to prevent introduction of malicious symlinks. 3) Implement strict backup management policies, including verifying the integrity and origin of backup files before restoration. 4) Educate users about the risks of restoring backups from suspicious sources and the importance of applying system updates promptly. 5) Employ mobile device management (MDM) solutions to enforce update compliance and restrict unauthorized backup restoration where feasible. 6) Monitor device behavior post-restore for anomalies indicating potential system file tampering. 7) Consider additional endpoint protection mechanisms that can detect unauthorized file system changes on iOS/iPadOS devices. These steps go beyond generic patching by emphasizing backup source validation and user awareness to reduce exploitation likelihood.

Description

This issue was addressed with improved handling of symlinks. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, iPadOS 17.7.4. Restoring a maliciously crafted backup file may lead to modification of protected system files.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-24104 is the unauthorized modification of protected system files on iOS and iPadOS devices. This can undermine the integrity of the operating system, potentially allowing attackers to implant persistent malicious code, alter system behavior, or bypass security controls. For organizations, this could lead to compromised devices that evade detection or facilitate further attacks such as privilege escalation or data manipulation. Although confidentiality and availability are not directly impacted, the integrity breach can have cascading effects on device trustworthiness and security posture. The requirement for user interaction and local access limits large-scale remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk, especially in environments where devices are shared, or backups are restored from untrusted sources. Enterprises relying on iOS/iPadOS devices for sensitive operations should consider the risk of compromised system integrity and potential lateral movement within their networks.

CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Symlink Attack (opens in a new tab)
Using Malicious Files (opens in a new tab)
Leverage Executable Code in Non-Executable Files (opens in a new tab)
Manipulating Web Input to File System Calls (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Apr 2026, 00:29 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-59

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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