CVE-2025-31226 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting Apple tvOS, as well as other Apple operating systems including watchOS, iPadOS, iOS, macOS Sequoia, and visionOS. The vulnerability arises from a logic issue in the image processing component of these systems. Specifically, when the system processes a maliciously crafted image, it may trigger a denial-of-service (DoS) condition. This occurs because the vulnerability is classified under CWE-400, which relates to uncontrolled resource consumption, indicating that the crafted image can cause the system to exhaust resources such as memory or CPU cycles, leading to a crash or system unavailability. The vulnerability requires local access (AV:L) and user interaction (UI:R) to be exploited, meaning an attacker must have local access to the device and trick the user into opening or processing the malicious image. No privileges are required (PR:N), and the vulnerability does not impact confidentiality or integrity, only availability. Apple has addressed this issue by improving internal checks in the image processing logic and released patches in watchOS 11.5, tvOS 18.5, iPadOS 17.7.7, iOS 18.5, macOS Sequoia 15.5, and visionOS 2.5. There are no known exploits in the wild at the time of publication. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.5 (medium), reflecting the limited attack vector and impact scope. The vulnerability affects unspecified versions prior to these patched releases. The root cause is a logic flaw that allows crafted images to cause resource exhaustion, leading to denial-of-service conditions on affected Apple devices, particularly Apple TV devices running tvOS.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-31226 is the potential disruption of services relying on Apple tvOS devices, such as digital signage, conference room media systems, or consumer-facing entertainment platforms. A successful denial-of-service attack could cause these devices to crash or become unresponsive, leading to operational downtime and potential loss of productivity or customer dissatisfaction. Since the vulnerability requires local access and user interaction, the risk is somewhat mitigated in enterprise environments with controlled device access. However, in environments where Apple TV devices are accessible to multiple users or visitors, such as hotels, retail stores, or public venues, the risk increases. The vulnerability does not compromise data confidentiality or integrity, so the risk of data breach is low. Nonetheless, repeated or targeted DoS attacks could degrade service availability and require costly incident response or device resets. The lack of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk, but organizations should prioritize patching to prevent future exploitation, especially as Apple devices are widely used in European consumer and enterprise markets.

1. Apply the latest Apple security updates promptly: Ensure all Apple devices, including Apple TV, iPhones, iPads, Macs, and watches, are updated to the patched versions (tvOS 18.5, watchOS 11.5, iPadOS 17.7.7, iOS 18.5, macOS Sequoia 15.5, visionOS 2.5). 2. Restrict physical and local access to Apple TV devices in enterprise and public environments to trusted personnel only, reducing the chance of an attacker delivering a malicious image. 3. Educate users about the risks of opening images from untrusted sources, especially on Apple TV devices that support user interaction. 4. Implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of Apple TV devices to untrusted networks or users. 5. Monitor device logs and behavior for signs of repeated crashes or resource exhaustion that could indicate exploitation attempts. 6. For environments using Apple TV for critical services, consider fallback or redundancy plans to maintain availability during potential DoS incidents. 7. Disable or limit image processing features on Apple TV devices where feasible, or restrict the types of images that can be processed if configurable.