Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-20687

Memory Safety in Apple Ipados ≤ 18.7.7

Memory Safety
Published
25 March 2026
Modified
25 March 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0034 26th percentile
Risk Priority 52 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-20687 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Apple Ipados. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 26th 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-20687 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) addressed through improved memory management in various Apple operating systems. It affects iOS and iPadOS versions prior to 18.7.7 and 26.4, macOS Sequoia prior to 15.7.5, macOS Tahoe prior to 26.4, and tvOS and watchOS prior to 26.4. The issue, published on 2026-03-25, carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (High), stemming from potential kernel memory corruption.

A local attacker with no privileges can exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user to interact with a malicious app (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R). Successful exploitation allows the app to cause unexpected system termination, leading to denial of service, or to write to kernel memory, enabling high integrity (I:H) and availability (A:H) impacts with no confidentiality loss (C:N) and unchanged scope (S:U).

Apple security advisories, detailed at support pages such as https://support.apple.com/en-us/126792 through https://support.apple.com/en-us/126797, recommend updating to the fixed versions: iOS 18.7.7 and iPadOS 18.7.7, iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, macOS Sequoia 15.7.5, macOS Tahoe 26.4, tvOS 26.4, and watchOS 26.4 to mitigate the issue.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7.7 and iPadOS 18.7.7, iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, macOS Sequoia 15.7.5, macOS Tahoe 26.4, tvOS 26.4, watchOS 26.4. An app may be…

more

able to cause unexpected system termination or write kernel memory.

CWE(s)
CWE-416

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-32412Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-41071Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-38598Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-35993Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-27969Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-32398Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-32433Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-32381Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2026-28994Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-24085Same product: Apple Ipados

Affected Assets

apple
ipados
≤ 18.7.7 · 26.0 — 26.4
apple
iphone os
≤ 18.7.7 · 26.0 — 26.4
apple
macos
15.0 — 15.7.5 · 26.0 — 26.4
apple
tvos
≤ 26.4
apple
watchos
≤ 26.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.

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.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416

References