CVE-2025-43203VulnerabilityPublished 15 Sep 2025Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2025-43203: Apple iOS and iPadOS · An attacker with physical access to an unlocked device may be able to view an image in the most

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.0 Medium · fixed in 18.7 : update Apple iOS and iPadOS when convenient.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.0Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 13% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 18.7

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
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: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
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: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within 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 15 Sep 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 2026-10-25.

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-2025-43203, organizations and users should promptly update affected Apple devices to iOS and iPadOS versions 18.7 or 26 where the vulnerability is fixed. If you cannot patch yet, users should avoid leaving devices unlocked unattended and consider not storing highly sensitive images in locked notes. Employing device-level security measures such as strong passcodes, biometric locks, and automatic screen locking with minimal timeout can reduce the window of opportunity for exploitation. Additionally, organizations should enforce physical security policies to prevent unauthorized device access and educate users about the risks of leaving devices unlocked. For highly sensitive environments, consider alternative secure storage solutions with stronger encryption and access controls beyond the Notes app. Monitoring for unusual physical access or device loss incidents can also help detect potential exploitation attempts.

Description

The issue was addressed with improved handling of caches. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7 and iPadOS 18.7, iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. An attacker with physical access to an unlocked device may be able to view an image in the most recently viewed locked note.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-43203 is a confidentiality breach, where sensitive images stored in locked notes can be exposed to unauthorized individuals with physical access to an unlocked device. This could lead to privacy violations, leakage of proprietary or personal information, and potential reputational damage for individuals and organizations. Since exploitation requires physical access to an unlocked device, the risk is mitigated somewhat by device access controls but remains significant in environments where devices may be left unattended or stolen. There is no impact on data integrity or system availability, and no remote exploitation vector exists. Organizations with employees who store sensitive images in locked notes on Apple devices should consider this a moderate risk, especially in sectors handling confidential information such as healthcare, finance, legal, and government. The vulnerability could facilitate insider threats or opportunistic data theft in physical security-compromised scenarios.

CWE-922Insecure Storage of Sensitive Information (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product stores sensitive information without properly limiting read or write access by unauthorized actors.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.1.6 (opens in a new tab)
V8.2.3 (opens in a new tab)
V8.2.2 (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 3 Apr 2026, 01:38 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-922

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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