Apple Multiple Products Classic Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
Apple watchOS, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, visionOS, and tvOS contain a classic buffer overflow vulnerability which could allow a malicious application to cause unexpected system termination or write kernel memory.
A local attacker, with a low-privilege account, can achieve partial data exposure, complete denial of service or system unavailability. Federal agencies are required to remediate by 2026-04-03 under CISA BOD 22-01.
This is a Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Apple Multiple Products. A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7.2 and iPadOS 18.7.2, iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1, macOS Sequoia 15.7.2, macOS Sonoma 14.8.2, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, visionOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1. A malicious application may be able to cause unexpected system termination or write kernel memory. Exploitation requires local access, low attack complexity, a low-privilege authenticated account, and no user interaction required.
Probably yes if any of these apply:
Active exploitation documented in the wild. Threat-research write-up: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/darksword-ios-exploit-chain/
Manual remediation steps
Apply the Vendor Patch
This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog — apply the vendor's security update as soon as possible.
CISA required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
References
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References