Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-43731

High

Published: 29 June 2026

Published
29 June 2026
Modified
30 June 2026
KEV Added
—
Patch
—
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0020 10.1th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-43731 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Apple Safari. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Drive-by Compromise (T1189); ranked at the 10.1th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in Safari 26.5.2, iOS 26.5.2 and iPadOS 26.5.2, macOS Tahoe 26.5.2. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to memory corruption.

CWE(s)
CWE-416

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1189 Drive-by Compromise Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access to a system through a user visiting a website over the normal course of browsing.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Use-after-free in Safari enables drive-by compromise and client-side exploitation via malicious web content leading to memory corruption/RCE.

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-43715Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-28205Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-43000Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2022-32922Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2022-22620Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2026-28947Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2026-28883Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2026-28942Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-43529Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2022-42829Same product: Apple Ipados

Affected Assets

apple
safari
≤ 26.5.2
apple
ipados
≤ 26.5.2
apple
iphone os
≤ 26.5.2
apple
macos
26.0 — 26.5.2

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

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.

SI-16 Memory Protection
addresses: CWE-416

Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that reduce the attack surface for weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Derived transitively via CVE→CWE→STIG over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only).

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

References