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Apple iOS EUVDEUVD-2026-78046

| CVE-2026-84571 MEDIUM
Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120)
2026-09-14 apple GHSA-9h63-3262-p24h
4.3
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
    Host/send crafted image to victim
  2. Exploit
    Victim app opens the image
  3. Execution
    Overflow defeats bounds check in image parser
  4. Impact
    App terminates unexpectedly (DoS)

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Buffer copy size validation
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution

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

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires the victim to process an attacker-supplied maliciously crafted image in an affected Apple OS (iOS/iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, watchOS 27 prior to the fix). The limiting factor is mandatory user interaction (UI:R) - the victim must open or render the image (e.g., view a web page, message, or attachment); there is no self-propagating or zero-click path indicated. Impact is bounded to unexpected termination of the processing application (A:L), not system compromise, code execution, or data disclosure, so realistic risk is a recoverable crash rather than device takeover.

Impact

This is a low-to-moderate priority defect that reads as a genuine but low-impact issue rather than a high-severity emergency. The vendor CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L, base 4.3) and the description agree cleanly: a maliciously crafted image causes unexpected app termination only - no confidentiality (C:N), no integrity (I:N), and only limited availability impact (A:L), meaning a single application crashes rather than the whole system or device. EPSS is low at 0.21% (12th percentile), it is NOT in CISA KEV, and no public POC is identified - all three signals are consistent with each other and with the modest CVSS. There is no conflict between the network attack vector and the DoS-only impact: the image can be delivered remotely (web page, message, email attachment) but requires the victim to process it (UI:R), which is why AV:N coexists with a low base score. SSVC framing: exploitation is 'none' observed, technical impact is 'partial' (crash only), and while parsing untrusted images is somewhat automatable, the payoff is merely a recoverable app crash. Bottom line: patch in normal cycle; this is a low-real-risk availability bug, not a code-execution threat despite the 'buffer overflow' framing.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker crafts a malformed image that overflows a bounds check in Apple's image-processing code and hosts or sends it (web page, iMessage, email). When the victim's app renders the image, the overflow triggers and the app terminates unexpectedly. No public exploit code is identified, and the impact is limited to a recoverable crash - no code execution or data disclosure is indicated.

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

Improper bounds checking during image processing on unpatched Apple operating systems lets a crafted image crash the application that renders it, affecting iOS and iPadOS before 27, macOS Golden Gate before 27, tvOS before 27, visionOS before 27, and watchOS before 27. The defect is scored 4.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L), meaning an unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger it only if the victim opens or renders the malicious image, and the outcome is limited to unexpected application termination rather than code execution, data disclosure, or integrity loss. No public exploit code has been identified and there is no confirmed active exploitation; EPSS is a low 0.21% (12th percentile), so this is a low-to-moderate priority issue rather than an emergency.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: update to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, or watchOS 27, which contain the improved bounds checking that resolves the overflow; apply the corresponding Apple advisory from the reference list (https://support.apple.com/en-us/149034 through https://support.apple.com/en-us/149038) for each platform. Because exploitation requires the victim to open a maliciously crafted image, interim compensating controls are limited: avoid opening or previewing untrusted images on unpatched devices, disable automatic image previews in messaging and mail clients, and restrict web content that can rapidly render widely supported image formats - accepting that these measures reduce convenience and can be bypassed by user action. No public exploit is known, so there is no need for emergency out-of-band mitigation; schedule the upgrade through normal patch management, prioritising users who routinely handle untrusted image attachments.

Affected VersionsENISA

tvOS 0 <27
watchOS 0 <27
macOS 0 <27
iOS and iPadOS 0 <27
visionOS 0 <27

Affected Packages

euvd ios_and_ipados fix: 27
euvd macos fix: 27
euvd tvos fix: 27
euvd visionos fix: 27
euvd watchos fix: 27

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 5 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 vulnerability is a classic buffer overflow (CWE-120) arising from insufficient bounds checking in the image-decoding path of Apple's operating systems, where an oversized or malformed image causes a write beyond the intended buffer boundary. The affected code is shared across Apple's platform family, which is why the CPE inventory spans cpe:2.3:a:apple:ios_and_ipados, cpe:2.3:a:apple:macos, cpe:2.3:a:apple:tvos, cpe:2.3:a:apple:visionos, and cpe:2.3:a:apple:watchos, all marked with wildcard versions below the 27 releases. Exploitation is network-reachable in the sense that the malicious image can arrive over the web, messaging, email, or file sharing, but the CVSS vector's UI:R component makes victim interaction mandatory - there is no zero-click or self-propagating path indicated, and PR:N means no authentication is needed by the attacker. The bounded A:L impact reflects that the memory corruption is caught or confined to the decoding process, producing a recoverable crash rather than a device takeover, and the C:N/I:N components confirm no confidentiality or integrity effect.

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Severity by source

Vendor (apple) PRIMARY 4.3 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
vuln.today AI 4.3 MEDIUM

Image can be delivered remotely (AV:N) but requires the victim to open it (UI:R); no auth (PR:N); impact is a single-app crash only, so C:N/I:N/A:L.

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

Lifecycle Timeline

4
CVSS changed
Sep 17, 2026 - 17:22 NVD
4.3 (MEDIUM)
Patch available
Sep 14, 2026 - 22:19 EUVD
CVE Published
Sep 14, 2026 - 20:49 cve.org
MEDIUM 4.3
CVE Published
Sep 14, 2026 - 20:49 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

A buffer overflow was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, watchOS 27. Processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to unexpected app termination.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 88% exploitable
Prevalence
Ubiquitous
Apple iOS/iPadOS/macOS/tvOS/visionOS/watchOS run on billions of consumer devices
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

22
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +22
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.

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