VulnerabilityPublished 25 Mar 2026Updated 26 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-28871: Apple Safari · Cross-site Scripting

Affects Apple SafariSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium : upgrade to 26.4 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

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

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

CVSS scores by source
CISA-ADP	CVSS 3.1	4.3

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 21% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 26.4, 18.7.7

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
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: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
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 25 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 29 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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), 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 Safari and macOS to 26.4; iOS and iPadOS to 26.4 or 18.7.7.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
AppleSafari	Affected <26.4	Fixed in 26.4
AppleiOS and iPadOS	Affected <26.4	Fixed in 26.4
AppleiOS and iPadOS	Affected <18.7.7	Fixed in 18.7.7
ApplemacOS	Affected <26.4	Fixed in 26.4

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-28871, organizations and users should promptly apply the security updates released by Apple, specifically Safari 26.4, iOS 18.7.7, and iPadOS 18.7.7 or later. Beyond patching, organizations should implement web filtering solutions to block access to known malicious websites and employ endpoint protection that can detect and prevent script-based attacks. Security awareness training should emphasize the risks of visiting untrusted websites and recognizing phishing attempts that may direct users to malicious content. Network-level protections such as DNS filtering and intrusion prevention systems (IPS) can help reduce exposure to malicious domains. For enterprise environments, consider deploying browser security policies that restrict or sandbox JavaScript execution where feasible. Monitoring browser logs and network traffic for unusual activity related to script injection attempts can aid in early detection. Finally, encourage users to adopt secure browsing habits and keep all software up to date to minimize attack surface.

Description

A logic issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in Safari 26.4, iOS 18.7.7 and iPadOS 18.7.7, iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, macOS Tahoe 26.4. Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to a cross-site scripting attack.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-28871 is the potential compromise of user confidentiality through cross-site scripting attacks. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary scripts in the context of the victim's browser session, potentially stealing cookies, session tokens, or other sensitive data accessible via the browser. This can lead to unauthorized access to user accounts or sensitive information. Although the vulnerability does not affect system integrity or availability, the confidentiality breach can facilitate further attacks such as account takeover or phishing. Organizations relying on Apple devices and Safari for web access, especially those handling sensitive or regulated data, face increased risk of data leakage and privacy violations. The requirement for user interaction (visiting a malicious website) limits automated exploitation but does not eliminate risk, as social engineering can be used to lure users. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate threat but does not preclude future attacks. Overall, the vulnerability poses a moderate risk to organizations globally, particularly those with high Apple device usage.

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation (Cross-site Scripting) (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #1OWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.
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.
Implementation · Architecture and Design
Understand the context in which your data will be used and the encoding that will be expected. This is especially important when transmitting data between different components, or when generating outputs that can contain multiple encodings at the same time, such as web pages or multi-part mail messages.
Architecture and Design · Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
Understand all the potential areas where untrusted inputs can enter your software: parameters or arguments, cookies, anything read from the network, environment variables, reverse DNS lookups, query results, request headers, URL components, e-mail, files, filenames, databases, and any external systems that provide…
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Cross Site Scripting Prevention (opens in a new tab)
DOM based XSS Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
XSS Using MIME Type Mismatch (opens in a new tab)
DOM-Based XSS (opens in a new tab)
Reflected XSS (opens in a new tab)
Stored XSS (opens in a new tab)
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Apr 2026, 03:14 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-79

Technical details

References

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