CVE-2026-20655VulnerabilityPublished 11 Feb 2026Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2026-20655: Apple iOS and iPadOS · An attacker with physical access to a locked device may be able to view sensitive user information in

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium : upgrade to 26.3 or 18.7.5 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 2% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 26.3, 18.7.5

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
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: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
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: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
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 11 Feb 2026
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 2026-10-26.

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

Upgrade Apple iOS and iPadOS to 26.3 or 18.7.5.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
AppleiOS and iPadOS	Affected <18.7.5 <26.3	Fixed in 26.3 18.7.5

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-20655, organizations and users should promptly update all affected Apple devices to iOS 18.7.5, iPadOS 18.7.5, iOS 26.3, or iPadOS 26.3 where the vulnerability is fixed. Beyond patching, enforcing strict physical security controls is critical to prevent unauthorized physical access to devices, including secure storage, use of strong passcodes, and enabling device encryption. Organizations should implement policies for rapid reporting and response to lost or stolen devices, including remote wipe capabilities. Additionally, enabling biometric authentication and limiting lock screen data exposure can reduce the risk of sensitive information leakage. Regular security awareness training should emphasize the importance of physical device security. Monitoring for unusual access patterns or device tampering can also help detect potential exploitation attempts. Finally, organizations should review and minimize sensitive data stored on mobile devices where feasible to reduce exposure.

Description

An authorization issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7.5 and iPadOS 18.7.5, iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3. An attacker with physical access to a locked device may be able to view sensitive user information.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-20655 is the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive user information on locked iOS and iPadOS devices. This can lead to privacy violations, exposure of personal or corporate data, and potential downstream attacks if sensitive information is leveraged by adversaries. Since the vulnerability requires physical access, the risk is higher in environments where devices may be lost, stolen, or temporarily accessed by unauthorized individuals. The confidentiality impact is high, but there is no direct effect on data integrity or system availability. Organizations that use Apple mobile devices for sensitive communications, corporate data access, or secure transactions may face increased risk of data leakage. The medium severity rating reflects the balance between the high confidentiality impact and the limited attack vector requiring physical access and low privileges. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially in targeted attacks or espionage scenarios.

CWE-287Improper Authentication (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A07:2025: Authentication Failures (opens in a new tab)
When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use an authentication framework or library such as the OWASP ESAPI Authentication feature.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
OWASP Authentication (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V2.8.5 (opens in a new tab)
V2.8.4 (opens in a new tab)
V9.2.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Fake the Source of Data (opens in a new tab)
Utilizing REST's Trust in the System Resource to Obtain Sensitive Data (opens in a new tab)
Session Hijacking (opens in a new tab)
Token Impersonation (opens in a new tab)
Upload a Web Shell to a Web Server (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, 02:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-287

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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