VulnerabilityPublished 4 Nov 2025Updated 5 Aug 2026

CVE-2025-43496: Apple iOS and iPadOS · Remote content may be loaded even when the 'Load Remote Images' setting is turned off

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High : upgrade to 26.1 or 18.7.2 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

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

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 44% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 26.1, 18.7.2

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

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

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
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: 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 4 Nov 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

Upgrade Apple iOS and iPadOS to 26.1 or 18.7.2.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apple iOS and iPadOS	Affected <18.7.2 <26.1	Fixed in 18.7.2 26.1

AI-suggested

Apple has released official fixes for this vulnerability in iOS 18.7.2, iPadOS 18.7.2, iOS 26.1, and iPadOS 26.1. Users and administrators should update affected devices to these versions or later to remediate the issue. No additional mitigation steps are indicated by the vendor advisory.

Description

CVE-2025-43496 is a vulnerability in Apple iOS and iPadOS where remote content may be loaded even when the 'Load Remote Images' setting is disabled. This issue could allow remote content to be fetched without user consent, potentially leading to privacy or security concerns. The vulnerability is fixed in iOS 18.7.2, iPadOS 18.7.2, iOS 26.1, and iPadOS 26.1. The CVSS score is 7.5, indicating a high severity level.

Impact

The vulnerability allows remote content to be loaded even when the user has disabled this feature, potentially exposing the user to unwanted content or tracking. The CVSS vector indicates that the integrity of the system or data could be impacted, but confidentiality and availability are not affected. No known active exploitation has been reported.

Summary

This vulnerability (CVE-2025-43496) affects Apple iOS and iPadOS devices by allowing remote content to be loaded despite the user disabling the 'Load Remote Images' setting. The issue was addressed by Apple through additional logic added in updates iOS 18.7.2, iPadOS 18.7.2, iOS 26.1, and iPadOS 26.1. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5 with vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N, indicating that it can be exploited remotely without privileges or user interaction and impacts integrity but not confidentiality or availability. There are no known exploits in the wild. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-359 (Exposure of Private Information Through Environmental Variables).

CWE-359Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not properly prevent a person's private, personal information from being accessed by actors who either (1) are not explicitly authorized to access the information or (2) do not have the implicit consent of the person about whom the information is collected.
Requirements
Identify and consult all relevant regulations for personal privacy. An organization may be required to comply with certain federal and state regulations, depending on its location, the type of business it conducts, and the nature of any private data it handles.
Architecture and Design
Carefully evaluate how secure design may interfere with privacy, and vice versa. Security and privacy concerns often seem to compete with each other. From a security perspective, all important operations should be recorded so that any anomalous activity can later be identified.
Implementation · Operation · Attack Surface Reduction
Some tools can automatically analyze documents to redact, strip, or "sanitize" private information, although some human review might be necessary. Tools may vary in terms of which document formats can be processed.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V10.2.1 (opens in a new tab)
V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Evercookie (opens in a new tab)
Cross Site Identification (opens in a new tab)
Probe iOS Screenshots (opens in a new tab)
Shoulder Surfing (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 12 Aug 2026, 15:41 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-359

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats