CVE-2026-86881: An attacker with a compromised intermediate certificate authority may be able to issue certificates with arbitrary extended key usages in Apple iOS and iPadOS
A certificate validation issue was addressed with improved certificate validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.7 and iPadOS 26.7, iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, watchOS 27. An attacker with a compromised intermediate certificate authority may be able to issue certificates with arbitrary extended key usages.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
CVE-2026-86881 describes a certificate validation flaw in Apple iOS, iPadOS, and related operating systems. The vulnerability permits an attacker who has compromised an intermediate certificate authority to issue certificates containing arbitrary extended key usages. This could undermine the trust model by allowing unauthorized certificate capabilities. Apple fixed this issue by improving certificate validation in iOS 26.7, iPadOS 26.7, macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, and watchOS 27.
Potential Impact
If an attacker compromises an intermediate certificate authority, they could exploit this vulnerability to issue certificates with arbitrary extended key usages, potentially enabling unauthorized actions or bypassing security controls that rely on certificate properties. This undermines the integrity of the certificate trust chain on affected Apple platforms.
Mitigation Recommendations
This vulnerability has been fixed by Apple in iOS 26.7, iPadOS 26.7, macOS Sequoia 15.8, and other related OS versions. Users and administrators should update affected Apple operating systems to these versions or later to remediate the issue. No additional mitigation is required once the systems are updated.
CVE-2026-86881: An attacker with a compromised intermediate certificate authority may be able to issue certificates with arbitrary extended key usages in Apple iOS and iPadOS
Description
A certificate validation issue was addressed with improved certificate validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.7 and iPadOS 26.7, iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, watchOS 27. An attacker with a compromised intermediate certificate authority may be able to issue certificates with arbitrary extended key usages.
Affected software
Apple
iOS and iPadOS
Apple
macOS
Apple
tvOS
Apple
visionOS
Apple
watchOS
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
CVE-2026-86881 describes a certificate validation flaw in Apple iOS, iPadOS, and related operating systems. The vulnerability permits an attacker who has compromised an intermediate certificate authority to issue certificates containing arbitrary extended key usages. This could undermine the trust model by allowing unauthorized certificate capabilities. Apple fixed this issue by improving certificate validation in iOS 26.7, iPadOS 26.7, macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, and watchOS 27.
Potential Impact
If an attacker compromises an intermediate certificate authority, they could exploit this vulnerability to issue certificates with arbitrary extended key usages, potentially enabling unauthorized actions or bypassing security controls that rely on certificate properties. This undermines the integrity of the certificate trust chain on affected Apple platforms.
Mitigation Recommendations
This vulnerability has been fixed by Apple in iOS 26.7, iPadOS 26.7, macOS Sequoia 15.8, and other related OS versions. Users and administrators should update affected Apple operating systems to these versions or later to remediate the issue. No additional mitigation is required once the systems are updated.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- apple
- Date Reserved
- 2026-09-08T16:43:41.871Z
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 6aa8611655bf5e2cf59d2f7b
Added to database: 09/14/2026, 21:03:18 UTC
Last enriched: 09/14/2026, 21:32:45 UTC
Last updated: 09/15/2026, 03:01:22 UTC
Views: 4
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