VulnerabilityPublished 11 May 2026Updated 26 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-28991: Apple iOS and iPadOS · Out-of-bounds Read

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High : upgrade to 26.5 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.

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

CVSS scores by source
CISA-ADP	CVSS 3.1	7.5

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 46% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 26.5, 15.8.2

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

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: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

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 and tvOS and visionOS and watchOS to 26.5; macOS to 26.5 or 15.8.2.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
AppleiOS and iPadOS	Affected <26.5	Fixed in 26.5
ApplemacOS	Affected <26.5	Fixed in 26.5
ApplemacOS	Affected <15.8.2	Fixed in 15.8.2
AppletvOS	Affected <26.5	Fixed in 26.5
ApplevisionOS	Affected <26.5	Fixed in 26.5
ApplewatchOS	Affected <26.5	Fixed in 26.5

AI-suggested

Apple fixed this vulnerability in iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5. Users and administrators should apply these updates to remediate the issue.

Description

An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5, macOS Sequoia 15.8.2, macOS Tahoe 26.5, tvOS 26.5, visionOS 26.5, watchOS 26.5. An app may be able to cause a denial-of-service.

Impact

An attacker controlling a malicious app could exploit this vulnerability to cause a denial-of-service on affected iOS and iPadOS devices, disrupting availability. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity. No known active exploitation has been reported.

Summary

This vulnerability (CVE-2026-28991) involves an out-of-bounds read in Apple iOS and iPadOS that could be triggered by a malicious app to cause a denial-of-service condition. The flaw was addressed by Apple through improved bounds checking in iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 releases. The CVSS score is 7.5 (high), reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges or user interaction required, and impact limited to availability. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-125 (out-of-bounds read). No known exploits have been reported. Patch or remediation level is not explicitly stated in the source data, so checking official Apple advisories is recommended.

CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessCWE Top 25 (2025): #8
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Use a language that provides appropriate memory abstractions.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Overread Buffers (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 19 May 2026, 10:40 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-125

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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