VulnerabilityPublished 29 Jul 2025Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2025-43226: Apple iOS and iPadOS · Out-of-bounds Read

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.0 Medium · fixed in 18.6 : update Apple iOS and iPadOS when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 11:07 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 14% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 18.6

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 29 Jul 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-2025-43226, organizations and users should promptly apply the security updates released by Apple for iOS 18.6, iPadOS 18.6 and 17.7.9, macOS Sequoia 15.6, macOS Sonoma 14.7.7, tvOS 18.6, visionOS 2.6, and watchOS 11.6. Beyond patching, organizations should implement strict controls on the sources of images processed by devices, such as restricting image attachments from untrusted sources and scanning media files for anomalies before opening. Employing mobile device management (MDM) solutions can help enforce update policies and restrict installation of unverified applications that might deliver malicious images. Network-level protections, including filtering of suspicious content and monitoring for unusual image processing activity, can provide additional defense layers. Security awareness training should emphasize caution when handling unsolicited media files. For high-security environments, consider disabling automatic image previews or processing in messaging and email clients until patches are applied. Regularly audit device inventories to ensure all Apple devices are updated to the fixed versions.

Description

An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6, iPadOS 17.7.9, macOS Sequoia 15.6, macOS Sonoma 14.7.7, tvOS 18.6, visionOS 2.6, watchOS 11.6. Processing a maliciously crafted image may result in disclosure of process memory.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-43226 is the potential disclosure of sensitive process memory, which could include confidential information such as cryptographic keys, personal data, or other sensitive application data. While the vulnerability does not allow code execution, privilege escalation, or denial of service, the leakage of memory contents can aid attackers in further attacks or reconnaissance. Organizations relying heavily on Apple mobile and desktop devices, especially those handling sensitive or classified information, face increased risk of data leakage if devices remain unpatched. The vulnerability could be exploited remotely if an attacker can convince a user or system to process a malicious image, potentially via messaging apps, email, or web content. Given the widespread use of Apple devices globally, the scope of affected systems is large, but the limited impact confines the overall risk to medium severity. The absence of required user interaction or privileges lowers the barrier to exploitation, but the lack of known exploits reduces immediate threat levels.

CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessCWE Top 25 (2025): #8
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Use a language that provides appropriate memory abstractions.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Overread Buffers (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, 01:43 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-125

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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