Description

A denial-of-service issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7.10 and iPadOS 18.7.10. A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial-of-service.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.5",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-14T21:17:05.823Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-14T21:17:05.823Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A critical denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability has been identified within iOS and iPadOS. The flaw arises from insufficient input validation, allowing an unauthenticated remote attacker to disrupt system operations.\nBy leveraging this vulnerability, a remote threat actor can trigger a state that forces the device into a non-responsive or crash-prone condition, resulting in a denial-of-service.\nThis issue affects Apple iOS and iPadOS up to version 18.7.9. The risk implication involves the potential for service instability, service interruption, or device unavailability.\nThe vulnerability does not necessarily require local interaction or elevated privileges, as it is classified as a remote attack vector. The successful exploitation of this flaw mandates that the system processes maliciously crafted input, which the vulnerable component fails to sanitize or validate correctly before execution.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability originates from a failure to adequately validate input processed by a specific, yet-to-be-disclosed, system component within iOS and iPadOS. In complex software architectures, improper validation often allows for memory corruption, resource exhaustion, or the triggering of logic errors that lead to process termination.\nThe attack flow commences when a remote attacker transmits a specially crafted network packet or data payload to a listening service or input-handling interface on the target device. Because the validation routines in the affected versions (prior to 18.7.10) are insufficient, the system fails to verify the integrity, bounds, or structure of the incoming data.\nOnce the malicious payload is accepted by the vulnerable component, the internal processing logic enters an undefined or error state. This can result in several failure modes, including heap or stack overflows, null pointer dereferences, or excessive consumption of system resources (such as CPU cycles or memory allocation).\nGiven that this vulnerability is accessible remotely, the attacker does not require physical access to the hardware or pre-existing user privileges. The target service or daemon responsible for parsing the input executes with the security context associated with that specific process. If the target component runs with elevated privileges, the crash can destabilize essential operating system functions, potentially requiring a device reboot to restore functionality.\nThe post-exploitation impact is limited to a denial-of-service, as the provided information indicates an issue primarily focused on availability rather than arbitrary code execution or unauthorized data exfiltration. However, the systemic nature of the crash can render the device temporarily useless, disrupting communication and data availability. The root cause is strictly attributed to the lack of robust input validation mechanisms, which has been addressed in the release of iOS 18.7.10 and iPadOS 18.7.10 by implementing stricter verification protocols to sanitize all incoming data streams before processing."
}