CVE-2026-112616 in iOS
Summary
by MITRE • 10/26/2026
An authorization issue was addressed with improved access control. This issue is fixed in iOS 27.2 and iPadOS 27.2, macOS Golden Gate 27.2, visionOS 27.2. An app may be able to access sensitive user data.
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/26/2026
The vulnerability described constitutes a critical authorization flaw within the operating system's security architecture, specifically affecting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS environments. At its core, this issue represents an improper implementation of access control mechanisms that govern how applications interact with protected resources on the device. In modern mobile and desktop ecosystems, sandboxing is employed to isolate application processes from one another and from sensitive system data. However, when authorization checks are bypassed or incorrectly evaluated, an application can exploit these gaps to retrieve information intended for other apps or restricted user contexts. This type of flaw undermines the fundamental principle of least privilege, allowing software that should have limited permissions to escalate its access level inadvertently through logical errors in permission validation routines rather than through low-level memory corruption techniques.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-269, which defines Improper Privilege Management, and more specifically CWE-863, the failure to enforce proper authorization checks before granting access to sensitive data. The root cause typically involves insufficient verification of whether an application possesses the necessary entitlements or user consent tokens when attempting to query protected APIs such as contacts, photos, location services, or health data. In some cases, this may also relate to CWE-284, Improper Access Control, where the system fails to distinguish between different levels of access rights for various entities. The flaw allows an app to bypass standard security boundaries that are designed to prevent cross-app data leakage, effectively treating untrusted input or requests as authorized without adequate validation against current policy definitions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant due to the potential exposure of highly sensitive personal information. If exploited, a malicious or compromised application could access private user data including but not limited to contact lists, calendar entries, medical records, financial details, and real-time location history. This breach compromises both individual privacy and organizational security if corporate devices are affected. Attackers can leverage this unauthorized access for identity theft, targeted phishing campaigns, surveillance, or further lateral movement within a networked environment where device data is synchronized with cloud services. The severity is amplified by the fact that users often grant broad permissions to apps under the assumption that the operating system enforces strict isolation between applications, making them unaware of the extent of data exposure occurring in the background.
Mitigation strategies primarily involve applying the provided software updates which address these access control logic errors through improved validation routines and stricter enforcement of entitlements. For developers, it is essential to ensure that all requests for sensitive resources are explicitly checked against current authorization policies before execution. Implementing defense-in-depth measures such as runtime permission checks in addition to static manifest declarations can help prevent exploitation even if system-level patches are delayed. Security teams should monitor application behavior using endpoint detection and response tools configured to flag unusual data access patterns, particularly those involving bulk retrieval of personal information by apps that do not typically require such broad permissions. Regular auditing of app permissions and minimizing the scope of granted privileges remain critical practices for reducing the attack surface associated with authorization flaws in mobile and desktop operating systems.