Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-43436

Auth Bypass in Apple Ipados ≤ 26.1

Published
04 November 2025
Modified
02 April 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0053 42th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-43436 is a high-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel (CWE-288) vulnerability in Apple Ipados. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, ranked at the 42th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, visionOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1. An app may be able to enumerate a user's installed apps.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-23503Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-24206Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-24095Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-44285Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-43323Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-43444Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-43205Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-27828Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-43462Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2026-28863Same product: Apple Ipados

Affected Assets

apple
ipados
≤ 26.1
apple
iphone os
≤ 26.1
apple
tvos
≤ 26.1
apple
visionos
≤ 26.1
apple
watchos
≤ 26.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • SC-39 Process Isolation
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 7 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.4.3
  • V6.6.1
  • V12.1.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly enforces app permission boundaries so an app cannot invoke the enumeration interface for other installed apps.

prevent

Requires each app to be granted only the minimum privileges needed, eliminating the alternate path that allowed enumeration.

prevent

Process isolation prevents one app from observing or querying the presence of other apps on the same device.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-03 full match
prevents

Requiring authentication on every channel and path directly eliminates alternate-path bypasses.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Enforcing authorizations and least privilege across all access vectors prevents unauthenticated alternate paths.

PR.IR-01 mostly match
prevents

Protecting networks and environments from unauthorized logical access blocks bypass via undocumented channels.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing can detect alternate-path bypasses but does not prevent them in production.

degrades

Secure authentication control directly mitigates bypass by requiring strong, consistent authentication on all paths.

prevents

Access control policy directly addresses alternate authentication paths by requiring all channels to enforce authentication.

degrades

Authentication information management ensures credentials and mechanisms are consistently applied across all access paths.

prevents

Access rights provisioning and review prevent bypass via unmonitored or alternate channels.

prevents

Privileged access rights control reduces risk of bypass through elevated or alternate paths.

References