VulnerabilityPublished 11 May 2026

CVE-2026-28954: Apple iOS and iPadOS · A maliciously crafted disk image may bypass Gatekeeper checks

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High : upgrade to 18.7.9 soon.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 32% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 18.7.9, 26.5, 15.7.7 +1

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
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: 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: 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 May 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 iOS and iPadOS to 18.7.9; macOS to 26.5, 15.7.7 or 14.8.7.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
AppleiOS and iPadOS	Affected <18.7.9	Fixed in 18.7.9
ApplemacOS	Affected <26.5	Fixed in 26.5
ApplemacOS	Affected <15.7.7	Fixed in 15.7.7
ApplemacOS	Affected <14.8.7	Fixed in 14.8.7

AI-suggested

Apple has released official fixes for this vulnerability in iOS 18.7.9 and iPadOS 18.7.9. Users and administrators should update affected devices to these versions or later to remediate the issue. Since the vendor advisory confirms the fix availability, applying these updates is the recommended mitigation. No additional mitigation steps are indicated.

Description

CVE-2026-28954 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting Apple iOS and iPadOS where a maliciously crafted disk image can bypass Gatekeeper checks. This issue relates to a file quarantine bypass that Apple addressed by adding additional checks. The vulnerability allows circumvention of Gatekeeper's security mechanism, potentially enabling untrusted code to run without user consent. Apple fixed this vulnerability in iOS 18.7.9 and iPadOS 18.7.9, as well as in several macOS versions. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.

Impact

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to bypass Gatekeeper protections on iOS and iPadOS devices, potentially leading to execution of untrusted or malicious code without user awareness. The confidentiality of the device could be compromised, but integrity and availability impacts are not indicated. There are no reports of active exploitation in the wild.

Summary

This vulnerability involves a file quarantine bypass in Apple iOS and iPadOS Gatekeeper functionality. Gatekeeper is designed to prevent untrusted software from executing by enforcing quarantine checks on downloaded files. A specially crafted disk image could bypass these checks, allowing potentially malicious content to run without triggering Gatekeeper's protections. Apple addressed the issue by implementing additional checks in iOS 18.7.9, iPadOS 18.7.9, and corresponding macOS updates. The CVSS score is 7.5, indicating a high-severity remote vulnerability that requires no privileges or user interaction to exploit and impacts confidentiality.

CWE-290Authentication Bypass by Spoofing (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A07:2025: Authentication Failures (opens in a new tab)
This attack-focused weakness is caused by incorrectly implemented authentication schemes that are subject to spoofing attacks.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
REST Security (opens in a new tab)
JSON Web Token for Java (opens in a new tab)
OWASP Authentication (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V3.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
V2.8.5 (opens in a new tab)
V2.8.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Creating a Rogue Certification Authority Certificate (opens in a new tab)
Web Services API Signature Forgery Leveraging Hash Function Extension Weakness (opens in a new tab)
Signature Spoof (opens in a new tab)
Signature Spoofing by Misrepresentation (opens in a new tab)
Session Credential Falsification through Prediction (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 19 May 2026, 11:03 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-290

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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