CVE-2026-112685 in iPadOS
Summary
by MITRE • 10/26/2026
An authorization issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in iOS 27.2 and iPadOS 27.2, macOS Golden Gate 27.2, tvOS 27.2, visionOS 27.2, watchOS 27.2. An app may be able to access sensitive user data.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/26/2026
The vulnerability described represents a critical authorization flaw rooted in inadequate state management within the operating system's application execution environment. In modern mobile and desktop ecosystems such as iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS, applications operate under strict sandboxing principles designed to isolate data and restrict access to sensitive resources unless explicitly granted by the user or system policies. However, when state management is improperly handled, an application can exploit race conditions or logical inconsistencies in how permissions are validated against current session states. This allows a malicious or compromised app to bypass intended security controls, effectively tricking the operating system into believing that authorization has been properly established when it has not. The core technical flaw lies in the failure of the access control mechanism to consistently verify user intent and permission scope across different stages of application lifecycle events, particularly during transitions between foreground and background states or during asynchronous operations where state variables may become desynchronized from actual privilege levels.
This type of vulnerability is classically categorized under CWE-269, which denotes Improper Privilege Assignment, as well as CWE-862, Missing Authorization, because the application fails to enforce proper checks before allowing access to protected resources. From a threat modeling perspective aligned with the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this behavior maps directly to T1548.003, Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism: Bypass User Interface Restrictions, or potentially T1078, Valid Accounts, if the app leverages legitimate credentials but misuses their associated permissions due to state confusion. The operational impact is severe because it enables unauthorized access to sensitive user data that should remain isolated within the application's private container. This could include personal identifiers, location history, health records, financial information, or communication logs depending on which APIs were improperly accessed. Users may not be aware of this breach as the exploitation occurs silently in the background without triggering standard permission prompts or notifications, leading to a significant erosion of user trust and potential regulatory compliance issues under frameworks like GDPR or CCPA due to unauthorized data exfiltration.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require both immediate patching by vendors and proactive defensive measures by developers and users. For end-users, the primary defense is ensuring that all devices are updated to the latest stable release of iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, macOS Golden Gate 27.2, tvOS 27.2, visionOS 27.2, or watchOS 27.2, as these versions contain specific code changes that rectify the state management logic errors responsible for the authorization bypass. Developers must implement rigorous input validation and ensure that every access control check is re-evaluated at critical execution points rather than relying on cached permission states. Adopting a least-privilege architecture where applications request only the minimum necessary permissions can also reduce the blast radius if such vulnerabilities are exploited in other contexts. Furthermore, integrating automated static analysis tools during the software development lifecycle that specifically detect improper state handling and race conditions in authorization logic can help prevent similar flaws from being introduced into future releases.