CVE-2026-20656VulnerabilityPublished 11 Feb 2026Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2026-20656: An app may be able to access a user's Safari history

Affects Apple SafariSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.3 Low : upgrade to 26.3 when convenient.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

3.3Low

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:L/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
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: 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: 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 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 2026-10-25.

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

Upgrade Safari and macOS to 26.3; iOS and iPadOS to 18.7.5.

Affected software

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

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-20656, organizations should prioritize updating all affected Apple devices to Safari 26.3, iOS 18.7.5, iPadOS 18.7.5, or macOS Tahoe 26.3 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed. Beyond patching, organizations should enforce strict application control policies to limit installation and execution of untrusted or unnecessary apps, reducing the risk of local exploitation. Implement endpoint security solutions that monitor and restrict unauthorized access to browser data and sensitive files. Employ device-level encryption and user account management to minimize privilege escalation opportunities. Regularly audit device configurations and installed applications to detect anomalies. Educate users about the risks of installing unverified apps and the importance of applying software updates promptly. For high-security environments, consider using mobile device management (MDM) tools to enforce update policies and restrict app permissions related to browser data access.

Description

A logic issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in Safari 26.3, iOS 18.7.5 and iPadOS 18.7.5, macOS Tahoe 26.3. An app may be able to access a user's Safari history.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-20656 is the unauthorized disclosure of a user's Safari browsing history, which can compromise user privacy and potentially reveal sensitive information about browsing habits, interests, or confidential research. For organizations, this could lead to privacy violations, insider threat risks, or targeted social engineering attacks if an attacker gains local access to devices. Although the vulnerability does not affect system integrity or availability, the exposure of browsing history could facilitate further attacks or data leakage. The requirement for local access and limited privileges reduces the risk of widespread exploitation but does not eliminate it, especially in environments with shared devices or insufficient endpoint security controls. Organizations with high privacy requirements or those handling sensitive data should consider this vulnerability significant enough to warrant prompt patching to prevent potential information leakage.

CWE-285Improper Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that you perform access control checks related to your business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that you apply to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs (opens in a new tab)
Cross Zone Scripting (opens in a new tab)
Directory Indexing (opens in a new tab)
Subverting Environment Variable Values (opens in a new tab)
Using Malicious Files (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Apr 2026, 02:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-285

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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