What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-20617?

CVE-2026-20617 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.0 (High). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.0%.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2026-20617?

Within 24 hours: Inventory all affected Apple devices and OS versions across the organization. Within 7 days: Develop a phased patch deployment plan prioritizing critical business systems and users with elevated access. Within 30 days: Complete patching of all vulnerable devices to the specified versions (iOS/iPadOS/watchOS/tvOS/visionOS 26.3 or macOS Sonoma 14.8.4 or later).

Watchos CVE-2026-20617

HIGH

Race Condition (CWE-362)

2026-02-11 product-security@apple.com

Information Disclosure Apple Race Condition Ipados Iphone Os Tvos Visionos Watchos

7.0

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

View

Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

Access

Launch vulnerable app locally
Exploit

Exploit race condition in state handling
Execution

Escalate privileges to root
Impact

Execute arbitrary code with elevated permissions

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness	CWE CWE-362 OWASP Top 10:2025 A06:2025 - Insecure Design ASVS 5.0 V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Concurrency control, locking MITRE ATT&CK 1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. Sign in to read
Exploitation Conditions	Local access required. Attacker must be authenticated local user on affected device running watchOS, tvOS, macOS Tahoe, macOS Sonoma 14.8.3 or earlier, visionOS, iOS, or iPadOS versions prior to 26.3. Vulnerable app must be installed and executable.
Impact	CVSS 7.0 (HIGH). Attack vector: Local. Complexity: High. Privileges required: Low. User interaction: None.
Exploit ScenarioDerived	An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to compromise the affected system.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).

No patch listed yet 0.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 12, 2026

Unprivileged local users can exploit a race condition in Apple's operating systems (macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and visionOS) to escalate privileges to root through improper state handling during concurrent operations. This vulnerability affects multiple OS versions and requires local access with low privileges to trigger, making it exploitable by malicious applications or local attackers. No patch is currently available for this vulnerability.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)

v1 Mar 12, 2026 - 22:02 CVSS 7.0

A race condition was addressed with improved state handling. This issue is fixed in watchOS 26.3, tvOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, visionOS 26.3, iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3. [CVSS 7.0 HIGH]

RemediationAI

Monitor vendor advisories for a patch.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Classified as CWE-362 (Race Condition). Affects Ipados. A race condition was addressed with improved state handling. This issue is fixed in watchOS 26.3, tvOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, visionOS 26.3, iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3. An app may be able to gain root privileges.

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Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 7.0 HIGH

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

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

High

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

DescriptionNVD

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

CVE-2026-20617 is a race condition affecting multiple Apple platforms (iOS, macOS, tvOS, iPadOS, visionOS, watchOS) that could allow attackers to exploit timing-dependent vulnerabilities in state handling. Organizations with significant Apple device deployments face potential data compromise or system instability until patches are deployed.

Business Impact: High

Compensating Controls

Until patches are available: Restrict network access for affected devices to essential services only; disable or limit use of features that depend on vulnerable state handling; monitor systems for suspicious timing-dependent behavior; segment vulnerable devices from critical infrastructure; implement enhanced endpoint detection and response (EDR) monitoring; consider temporary mobile device management (MDM) policies restricting non-patched device functionality.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score

0.0%

Top 99% exploitable

Data Quality

3 sources

Confidence: Low

NVD

CVE.org

EPSS

VulDB

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue

Severity HIGH

CISA KEV No

Public POC No

EPSS 0.0%

Patch available No

Active threat No

Deciding rule

HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)

What every action level means

Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.

Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived

Scheduled

Exploitation· derived

None

System Exposure· derived

Small

Automatable· derived

Human Impact

High

Priority Score

Low Medium High Critical

KEV: 0

EPSS: 0

CVSS: +35

PoC: 0

Weaponized: 0

Threat intel: 0

Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information Disclosure MEDIUM

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

Race Condition MEDIUM

Race conditions occur when multiple concurrent requests exploit the brief time gap between checking a condition and acting upon it (TOCTOU - Time of Check, Time of Use).