CVE-2025-43520: Apple Multiple Products Classic Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

What it is

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 evidence

First exploit evidence seen: 2026-03-20 (earliest date across the sources below).

Exploited in the wild

• CISA KEV: listed since 2026-03-20. Source

Sources: CISA KEV.

How to fix it

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. (source: CISA KEV)

Fixed versions

• apple ipados: upgrade to 18.7.2 or later
• apple iphone os: upgrade to 18.7.2 or later
• apple macos: upgrade to 14.8.2 or later (affected from 14.0)
• apple macos: upgrade to 15.7.2 or later (affected from 15.0)
• apple tvos: upgrade to 26.1 or later
• apple visionos: upgrade to 26.1 or later
• apple watchos: upgrade to 26.1 or later

Derived from the NVD CPE configuration (versionEndExcluding / versionEndIncluding). Always confirm with the vendor advisory.

Vendor advisories and patches

• https://support.apple.com/en-us/125632 (CISA KEV notes)
• https://support.apple.com/en-us/125633 (CISA KEV notes)
• https://support.apple.com/en-us/125634 (CISA KEV notes)
• https://support.apple.com/en-us/125635 (CISA KEV notes)
• https://support.apple.com/en-us/125636 (CISA KEV notes)
• https://support.apple.com/en-us/125637 (CISA KEV notes)
• https://support.apple.com/en-us/125638 (CISA KEV notes)
• https://support.apple.com/en-us/125639 (CISA KEV notes)

MITRE ATT&CK mitigations for this chain

• M1050 Exploit Protection (for T1203) : Security applications that look for behavior used during exploitation such as Windows Defender Exploit Guard (WDEG) and the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) can be used to mitigate some exploitation behavior. Control flow integrity checking is another way to potentially identify and stop a software exploi
• M1051 Update Software (for T1203) : Perform regular software updates to mitigate exploitation risk. Keeping software up-to-date with the latest security patches helps prevent adversaries from exploiting known vulnerabilities in client software, reducing the risk of successful attacks.
• M1048 Application Isolation and Sandboxing (for T1203) : Browser sandboxes can be used to mitigate some of the impact of exploitation, but sandbox escapes may still exist. Other types of virtualization and application microsegmentation may also mitigate the impact of client-side exploitation. Risks of additional exploits and weaknesses in those systems may still exist.

Detection Generic guidance

• Execution: Watch for the service process spawning shells or script interpreters (cmd.exe, powershell, sh, bash, python) via EDR process-tree rules.

Response checklist Generic guidance

1. Inventory: find every instance of the affected product and version (include internet-facing and forgotten ones).
2. Patch or mitigate per the vendor advisory; if you cannot patch, remove internet exposure or apply the vendor workaround.
3. Assume compromise if the system was exposed before patching: hunt for the indicators in the advisory and review logs back to the disclosure date.
4. Rotate credentials and secrets stored on or used by the affected system if compromise cannot be ruled out.