CVE-2026-112410 in macOS
Summary
by MITRE • 10/26/2026
A double free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in macOS Golden Gate 27.2, macOS Sequoia 15.8.2, macOS Tahoe 26.7.2. A remote attacker may cause an unexpected process termination.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/27/2026
The vulnerability described involves a double free memory corruption flaw within the operating system's core components, specifically addressed through enhanced memory management protocols in recent updates for macOS Golden Gate 27.2, macOS Sequoia 15.8.2, and macOS Tahoe 26.7.2. A double free error occurs when an application attempts to deallocate a block of memory that has already been freed by the program or another part of the system. This condition violates fundamental principles of safe memory management and is classified under CWE-415 in the Common Weakness Enumeration standard, which highlights improper handling of duplicate resource releases. In complex operating systems like macOS, where numerous processes interact with shared kernel resources and dynamic libraries, such a flaw can lead to unpredictable behavior because the heap allocator may interpret the corrupted metadata as valid pointers or overwrite adjacent memory structures during subsequent allocation requests.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability allows for potential denial of service conditions rather than immediate arbitrary code execution in its current manifestation. As noted by Apple, a remote attacker could exploit this flaw to cause unexpected process termination within affected applications or system services. This aligns with the ATT&CK technique T1499, Endpoint Denial of Service, where an adversary aims to disrupt availability by exhausting resources or crashing critical processes. While double free vulnerabilities are historically associated with higher severity outcomes like privilege escalation via heap spraying and control flow hijacking, the specific impact here is limited to process termination due to how Apple has mitigated other potential exploitation vectors in these builds. Nevertheless, a remote attacker leveraging this flaw could destabilize user sessions or disrupt background services that rely on continuous operation, thereby impacting system reliability and availability for end users.
The fix implemented in macOS Sequoia 15.8.2 and subsequent versions focuses on rigorous validation of memory pointers before deallocation occurs. By ensuring that a pointer is not null and has not already been marked as freed within the current execution context, Apple prevents the heap manager from performing invalid operations. This improvement likely involves adding reference counting checks or using specialized debugging allocators during development to catch such errors early in the software lifecycle. For system administrators and users, applying these updates is critical to maintaining a secure posture against memory corruption attacks. It is also advisable to keep all dependent applications updated, as they may interact with vulnerable system libraries that trigger this condition under specific input conditions or race scenarios.
To further mitigate risks associated with memory safety issues, organizations should enforce strict patch management policies and monitor for anomalous process crashes in logs which might indicate exploitation attempts of similar vulnerabilities. Additionally, enabling features such as Memory Integrity on compatible hardware can provide an additional layer of protection by restricting the ability of code to modify executable memory regions, thereby reducing the impact if a memory corruption flaw is successfully triggered. Continuous monitoring and timely application of security updates remain the most effective strategies for defending against these types of low-level system vulnerabilities that target fundamental operating system mechanisms.