CVE-2026-20673VulnerabilityPublished 11 Feb 2026Updated 2 Apr 2026

CVE-2026-20673: Apple iOS and iPadOS · Turning off "Load remote content in messages” may not apply to all mail previews

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium : upgrade to 18.7.5 when convenient.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 28% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 18.7.5, 26.3, 15.7.4 +1

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: Low
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: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on 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 iOS and iPadOS to 18.7.5; macOS to 26.3, 15.7.4 or 14.8.4.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
AppleiOS and iPadOS	Affected <18.7.5	Fixed in 18.7.5
ApplemacOS	Affected <14.8.4 <15.7.4 <26.3	Fixed in 26.3 15.7.4 14.8.4

AI-suggested

Organizations and users should promptly update affected Apple operating systems to the fixed versions: iOS 18.7.5, iPadOS 18.7.5, macOS Sequoia 15.7.4, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, and macOS Tahoe 26.3. Beyond patching, administrators should audit mail client configurations to verify that remote content loading is disabled where privacy is critical. Consider deploying mobile device management (MDM) policies to enforce mail client settings uniformly across managed devices. For high-security environments, restrict or monitor email content types and use email security gateways to filter or sanitize incoming messages that contain remote content. Educate users about the risks of remote content in emails and encourage cautious handling of unknown or suspicious messages. Finally, monitor for unusual network traffic patterns indicative of remote content loading from untrusted sources to detect potential exploitation attempts.

Description

A logic issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7.5 and iPadOS 18.7.5, macOS Sequoia 15.7.4, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, macOS Tahoe 26.3. Turning off "Load remote content in messages” may not apply to all mail previews.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-20673 is on user privacy and confidentiality. By failing to fully enforce the user’s preference to block remote content in email previews, attackers can embed tracking pixels or other remote resources in emails that load automatically. This can reveal sensitive information such as IP addresses, device details, and user behavior (e.g., when and how often an email is opened). For organizations, this can lead to leakage of sensitive internal communications metadata or enable targeted phishing campaigns with enhanced tracking capabilities. Although the vulnerability does not allow code execution, data modification, or denial of service, the privacy breach can undermine trust and compliance with data protection regulations. The impact is more significant for privacy-conscious users and organizations handling sensitive or confidential communications. Since exploitation requires no authentication or user interaction, attackers can remotely track users simply by sending specially crafted emails. However, the scope is limited to Apple mail clients on affected OS versions, and the issue is mitigated by applying the vendor patches.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Apr 2026, 02:59 UTC

Technical details

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