Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-28841

Memory Safety in Apple Macos 26.0 – 26.4

Published
25 March 2026
Modified
25 March 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.2
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0016 6th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-28841 is a medium-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 6.2 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 6th 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-16 (Memory Protection) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A buffer overflow was addressed with improved size validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Tahoe 26.4. A buffer overflow may result in memory corruption and unexpected app termination.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
Why these techniques?

Buffer overflow leading to memory corruption and explicit app termination directly enables application exploitation for denial of service.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-64691Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-64767Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-43750Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-32401Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-23513Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-28209Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-28212Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-27968Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-28211Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-24266Same product: Apple Macos

Affected Assets

apple
macos
26.0 — 26.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • SI-16 Memory Protection
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires size and bounds validation on untrusted input to block the buffer overflow described in CWE-120.

prevent

Enforces memory-protection mechanisms that prevent corruption and resulting process termination from out-of-bounds writes.

respond

Mandates timely application of the vendor patch that added the size-validation fix for this macOS vulnerability.

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 development practices directly enforce bounds checking and input validation that prevent classic buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes such as code review or scanning detect classic buffer overflows before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing unchecked buffer copies with corrected versions.

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.

prevents

Secure coding directly requires bounds-checked memory operations, addressing the root cause of CWE-120.

detects

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect buffer overflows through fuzzing and static analysis, though it does not prevent them at the source.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates processes that can include input validation and bounds checking to prevent buffer overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify input-size validation and safe buffer handling to mitigate classic buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles promote defensive coding patterns that reduce the likelihood of unchecked buffer copies.

References