Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-28858

Memory Safety in Apple Ipados ≤ 26.4

Memory Safety
Published
25 March 2026
Modified
26 March 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
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:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0053 42th percentile
Risk Priority 72 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-28858 is a critical-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Apple Ipados. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — 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-2026-28858 is a buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-120) addressed through improved bounds checking in the kernel of iOS and iPadOS. It affects versions of iOS and iPadOS prior to 26.4, where insufficient bounds validation allows memory corruption. The issue was publicly disclosed on March 25, 2026, 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 due to its potential for high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts.

A remote attacker requires no privileges or user interaction to exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity. Successful exploitation could enable the attacker to cause unexpected system termination, effectively resulting in a denial-of-service condition, or corrupt kernel memory, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or further privilege escalation within the kernel context.

Apple's security advisory at https://support.apple.com/en-us/126792 confirms the vulnerability was remediated in iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4 via enhanced bounds checking. Security practitioners should prioritize updating affected devices to these versions to mitigate the risk.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A buffer overflow was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4. A remote user may be able to cause unexpected system termination or corrupt kernel memory.

CWE(s)
CWE-120

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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 →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
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-2026-28875Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2021-30983Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-23494Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-27955Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2026-43776Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-41064Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-24237Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-41974Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-27879Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-27956Same product: Apple Ipados

Affected Assets

apple
ipados
≤ 26.4
apple
iphone os
≤ 26.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

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

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and analysis can find missing size checks before deployment.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly enforces size checks before buffer copies.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Engineering principles require bounds checking and safe buffer handling in design.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection limits the impact of an overflow once it occurs.

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.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

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

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

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

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

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

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

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

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

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

References