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Apple iOS EUVDEUVD-2026-78018

| CVE-2026-86869 MEDIUM
Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787)
2026-09-14 apple GHSA-32cc-rjrq-8hxg
6.5
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: apple
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Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Access
    Craft malicious image file
  2. Delivery
    Deliver via web/message to victim
  3. Exploit
    Victim's app processes image
  4. Execution
    Out-of-bounds write corrupts memory
  5. Impact
    Unexpected app termination (DoS)

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, write limits
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Requires the victim to process or open a maliciously crafted image within an affected app on iOS/iPadOS (before 26.7) or macOS (before Golden Gate 27); this user interaction (UI:R) - opening or rendering the attacker-supplied image - is the primary limiting factor. No authentication or elevated privileges are needed (PR:N), and the image can be delivered remotely (AV:N), but the maximum realistic outcome is an app crash (A:H only), so there is no privilege gain or data exposure. Exploitation is bounded to unpatched Apple OS versions.

Impact

All impact signals point to a low-priority, availability-only issue despite the moderate 6.5 CVSS. The vendor vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H is confidentiality/integrity-clean and rates only A:H, meaning the sole consequence is 'unexpected app termination' - a crash/DoS, not code execution or data disclosure, consistent with CWE-787 out-of-bounds write that Apple fixed via improved bounds checking. Exploitation signals are weak and mutually consistent: EPSS is 0.15% (5th percentile), there is no CISA KEV listing, and no public exploit code is identified - so this is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and not active exploitation. AV:N with UI:R is realistic (a malicious image can be delivered remotely, e.g. via web/message, but a user must open or process it), yet the ceiling is a terminated app rather than a compromised device. The Buffer Overflow / Memory Corruption tags describe the OOB-write class accurately but could overstate risk if read as arbitrary code execution; the assessed impact remains a crash. Net: real but low urgency - patch on normal cadence rather than emergency.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker crafts a malformed image and delivers it via a webpage, email, or messaging app; when the victim's iOS/iPadOS or macOS app processes or renders the image, an out-of-bounds write corrupts memory and the app terminates unexpectedly. Impact is limited to a denial of service (app crash) with no evidence of data disclosure or code execution. No public proof-of-concept or active exploitation has been identified.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Sep 17, 2026

An out-of-bounds write in Apple's image handling code can terminate an application on iOS and iPadOS before 26.7 and on macOS before Golden Gate 27 when a user opens a maliciously crafted image. The attacker needs no credentials or privileges, but the victim must actively render the attacker-supplied image, and the maximum assessed impact is availability only (app crash) with no code execution, privilege gain, or data exposure. Exploitation is not confirmed in the wild (no CISA KEV listing), EPSS is 0.15% (5th percentile), and no public exploit code has been identified; Apple has shipped fixes in iOS 26.7, iPadOS 26.7, and macOS Golden Gate 27.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: iOS 26.7, iPadOS 26.7, and macOS Golden Gate 27 - install these exact versions via Settings > General > Software Update on iOS/iPadOS or System Settings > General > Software Update on macOS, and consult Apple's advisories at https://support.apple.com/en-us/149035 and https://support.apple.com/en-us/149041 for the per-platform notes. Because exploitation requires a user to open a crafted image, the strongest interim control is to treat image files from untrusted sources as executable content: block or quarantine image attachments at the mail and web gateway, and disable automatic image preview/thumbnail generation in chat, mail, and messaging clients (trade-off: users lose inline previews and must open attachments manually, which adds friction and may simply shift the risky open action later). Until patched builds can be deployed, restrict untrusted file shares and downloads to managed devices only, and consider disabling the ability of low-trust apps to open images from shared or external locations (trade-off: reduces workflow flexibility and may break legitimate document review). Note that filtering by file extension is weak mitigation here, since image formats are trivially re-wrapped, so content-based inspection or format allow-listing at the perimeter is preferred, and none of these workarounds should delay applying the fixed OS versions.

Affected VersionsENISA

iOS and iPadOS 0 <26.7
macOS 0 <27

Affected Packages

euvd ios_and_ipados fix: 26.7
euvd macos fix: 27

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 2 packages in euvd

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

Technical ContextAI · show details

The root cause is CWE-787, an out-of-bounds write, which Apple addressed by improving bounds checking in its image parsing routines that run when the operating system decodes or renders an image supplied by an application or a file share. CPE data confirms the affected code ships inside the operating system itself rather than a standalone app: cpe:2.3:a:apple:ios_and_ipados:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* and cpe:2.3:a:apple:macos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*, meaning the vulnerable parser is reached through any app on those platforms that displays user-supplied images. Because decoding occurs before the calling app can validate content, a crafted file can drive the parser to write past the end of an allocated buffer, corrupting memory. The supplied CVSS vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) and the independent assessment both scope the realized effect to a crash of the processing app, not to attacker-controlled code execution, so the practical consequence is denial of service to the affected app rather than a full system compromise; the buffer-overflow and memory-corruption tags in the intelligence feed describe the defect class, not a demonstrated exploit outcome.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (apple) PRIMARY 6.5 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI 6.5 MEDIUM

Malicious image is remotely deliverable (AV:N) but requires the user to open/process it (UI:R); impact is limited to app termination, so C:N/I:N/A:H.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (apple).

CVSS VectorVendor: apple

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

Lifecycle Timeline

4
CVSS changed
Sep 17, 2026 - 16:22 NVD
6.5 (MEDIUM)
Patch available
Sep 14, 2026 - 22:19 EUVD
CVE Published
Sep 14, 2026 - 20:48 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)
CVE Published
Sep 14, 2026 - 20:48 cve.org
MEDIUM 6.5

DescriptionCVE.org

An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.7 and iPadOS 26.7, macOS Golden Gate 27. Processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to unexpected app termination.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 95% exploitable
Prevalence
Ubiquitous
Apple iOS/iPadOS/macOS are ubiquitous consumer operating systems
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

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 MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
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
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
High

Priority Score

32
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +32
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Memory corruption occurs when a program writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory regions or accesses memory in unintended ways, violating the integrity of the process's address space.

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