CVE-2025-43359
Published: 15 September 2025
Summary
CVE-2025-43359 is a critical-severity Always-Incorrect Control Flow Implementation (CWE-670) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 30.8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and CM-6 (Configuration Settings).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Directly remediates the socket binding logic flaw by requiring timely identification, reporting, and correction via vendor patches for affected Apple OS versions.
Mitigates remote exploitation by monitoring and controlling communications at external boundaries, blocking unauthorized access to the unexpectedly exposed UDP server socket.
Enforces secure configuration settings for network services to bind sockets only to local interfaces as intended, reducing risk of unintended network-wide exposure.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Unintended binding of UDP socket to all interfaces directly enables remote exploitation of a service that should be local-only (T1190).
NVD Description
A logic issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7 and iPadOS 18.7, iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, macOS Sequoia 15.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8, macOS Tahoe 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, watchOS 26. A…
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UDP server socket bound to a local interface may become bound to all interfaces.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2025-43359 is a logic issue in Apple's operating systems that was addressed through improved state management. The vulnerability causes a UDP server socket, intended to be bound to a local interface, to instead become bound to all interfaces, potentially exposing it network-wide. It affects iOS and iPadOS versions prior to 18.7 and 26, macOS Sequoia prior to 15.7, macOS Sonoma prior to 14.8, macOS Tahoe prior to 26, tvOS prior to 26, visionOS prior to 26, and watchOS prior to 26. The issue is tracked under CWE-670 and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating critical severity.
A remote network attacker with no privileges or user interaction required can exploit this vulnerability due to its low attack complexity. Successful exploitation allows high-impact disruption to confidentiality, integrity, and availability, stemming from the unintended socket binding that could enable broader access or manipulation of network services.
Apple's security advisories detail mitigations through patches released in the specified versions: iOS 18.7 and iPadOS 18.7, iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, macOS Sequoia 15.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8, macOS Tahoe 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, and watchOS 26. Further details are available in the vendor's support documents at https://support.apple.com/en-us/125108, https://support.apple.com/en-us/125109, https://support.apple.com/en-us/125110, https://support.apple.com/en-us/125111, and https://support.apple.com/en-us/125112. Security practitioners should prioritize updating affected devices to these versions.
Details
- CWE(s)