CVE-2025-43520: Apple iOS and iPadOS · Buffer Overflow
Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5
Exploited in the wild · KEV due 3 Apr 2026 : upgrade to 26.1 or 18.7.2 now.
Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC
- KEV deadline
- US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else.
- EPSS
- 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 36% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 26.1, 18.7.2, 15.7.2 +1
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HExploitation evidence
t = 0 is the CVE’s publication on cve.org
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 12 Dec 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: evidence found.
Listed in CISA KEV 98 days after disclosure
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
Timeline
CVE ID reserved
by apple
, 240 days before disclosure
CVE published
on cve.org
, t = 0
In Threat Radar
record ingested
, 17 minutes after disclosure
Added to CISA KEV (opens in a new tab)
exploitation confirmed
, 98 days after disclosure
KEV remediation due
US federal deadline
, 112 days after disclosure
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), CISA KEV (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.
What to do
Upgrade iOS and iPadOS to 26.1 or 18.7.2; macOS to 26.1, 15.7.2 or 14.8.2; tvOS and visionOS and watchOS to 26.1.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| AppleiOS and iPadOS | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| ApplemacOS | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| AppletvOS | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| ApplevisionOS | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| ApplewatchOS | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Description
A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7.2 and iPadOS 18.7.2, iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1, macOS Sequoia 15.7.2, macOS Sonoma 14.8.2, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, visionOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1. A malicious application may be able to cause unexpected system termination or write kernel memory.
References
- support.apple.com/en-us/125632 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/en-us/125633 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/en-us/125634 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/en-us/125635 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/en-us/125636 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/en-us/125637 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/en-us/125638 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/en-us/125639 (opens in a new tab)
- cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/darksword-ios-exploit-chain/ (opens in a new tab)
- cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2025-43520 (opens in a new tab)