CVE-2026-20650
Published: 11 February 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-20650 is a high-severity Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) vulnerability in Apple Ipados. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 21.4th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Likely Mitigating ControlsAI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Limiting concurrent sessions directly prevents uncontrolled resource consumption by capping the number of active sessions per user or account.
Analysis identifies uncontrolled resource consumption indicative of denial-of-service or abuse attempts.
Contingency plan testing includes resource exhaustion scenarios to verify recovery, making it harder for attackers to sustain exploits that cause uncontrolled consumption.
Updated contingency plans include current procedures to detect, contain, and recover from resource exhaustion, limiting an attacker's ability to sustain impact from uncontrolled consumption.
Alternate site allows resumption of operations if resource exhaustion at the primary site is exploited to cause unavailability.
Alternate telecommunications services enable resumption of essential functions when primary services become unavailable due to uncontrolled resource consumption.
The team can analyze and respond to resource exhaustion incidents, reducing the impact of attacks that exploit uncontrolled consumption weaknesses.
Timely maintenance support and spare parts enable rapid recovery from failures induced by uncontrolled resource consumption, shortening the impact window of denial-of-service attacks.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
CVE enables direct exploitation of Bluetooth packet validation flaw (CWE-400) to trigger OS resource exhaustion and endpoint DoS without privileges or interaction.
NVD Description
A denial-of-service issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, tvOS 26.3, visionOS 26.3, watchOS 26.3. An attacker in a privileged network position may be able to perform denial-of-service…
more
attack using crafted Bluetooth packets.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-20650 is a denial-of-service vulnerability stemming from insufficient validation in Apple's Bluetooth implementation. It affects iOS and iPadOS prior to version 26.3, macOS Tahoe prior to 26.3, tvOS prior to 26.3, visionOS prior to 26.3, and watchOS prior to 26.3. The issue, classified under CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption), carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H), indicating high severity due to its potential for significant availability disruption without requiring privileges or user interaction.
An attacker in a privileged network position can exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted Bluetooth packets to targeted Apple devices. Successful exploitation results in a denial-of-service condition, rendering the affected device unavailable until reboot or other recovery measures are applied. No confidentiality or integrity impacts are possible, but the network accessibility and low complexity make it feasible for remote attackers within Bluetooth range.
Apple's security advisories detail the fix as improved validation of Bluetooth packets, available in the specified 26.3 updates across all affected platforms. Organizations should prioritize patching to iOS 26.3, iPadOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, tvOS 26.3, visionOS 26.3, or watchOS 26.3, as outlined in support documents at https://support.apple.com/en-us/126346, https://support.apple.com/en-us/126348, https://support.apple.com/en-us/126351, https://support.apple.com/en-us/126352, and https://support.apple.com/en-us/126353.
Details
- CWE(s)