CVE-2026-112693 in iOS
Summary
by MITRE • 10/26/2026
A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in Safari 27.2, iOS 26.7.2 and iPadOS 26.7.2, iOS 27.2 and iPadOS 27.2, macOS Golden Gate 27.2, visionOS 27.2. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to an unexpected Safari crash.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/26/2026
The vulnerability described is a classic use-after-free error, which falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-416. This type of memory management flaw occurs when software continues to use a pointer after it has been freed or deallocated from memory. In the context of web browsers like Safari, this often happens during the rendering engine's processing of complex HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or other web content structures. When maliciously crafted web content is processed, the browser may allocate memory for certain objects and later free that memory as part of its normal garbage collection or DOM manipulation processes. However, if a reference to that freed memory location persists within another object or script context, subsequent access attempts will read from or write to an invalid memory address. This can lead to unpredictable behavior, including data corruption, privilege escalation, or arbitrary code execution, although in this specific instance, the primary observed impact is a denial of service manifested as an unexpected crash of the Safari application.
The operational impact of such vulnerabilities extends beyond simple application instability. While the immediate symptom reported is a crash, use-after-free bugs are frequently exploited to achieve remote code execution by carefully crafting heap layouts and overwriting function pointers or object vtables with attacker-controlled data. The fact that this issue was addressed through improved memory management suggests that Apple implemented stricter checks on pointer validity before dereferencing them or adjusted the lifecycle of objects to ensure references are invalidated upon deallocation. This type of fix is critical for maintaining the integrity of the browser sandbox, which relies heavily on preventing out-of-bounds accesses and invalid memory operations from escaping containment mechanisms. The vulnerability likely affects any user who visits a specially crafted website designed to trigger this specific race condition or logic error within the rendering pipeline.
Mitigation strategies primarily involve applying the provided software updates immediately. Safari 27.2, iOS 26.7.2, iPadOS 26.7.2, iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, macOS Golden Gate 27.2, and visionOS 27.2 contain the necessary patches to resolve this memory management flaw. For organizations managing large fleets of devices, ensuring that these updates are deployed via mobile device management solutions or automated patching systems is essential to reduce the attack surface. Additionally, users should exercise caution when interacting with untrusted web content, although modern browsers employ multiple layers of defense such as sandboxing and heap hardening techniques like ASLR and DEP to mitigate exploitation attempts even if a vulnerability exists. Regularly updating operating systems and browser engines remains the most effective defense against zero-day exploits derived from these types of low-level memory errors.
From an attacker perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which covers Exploitation for Client Execution, as it involves leveraging a flaw in client-side software to execute malicious actions on the user's device. The use-after-free condition represents a fundamental failure in resource management that undermines the stability and security of the application environment. By addressing this issue through rigorous memory safety improvements, developers reduce the likelihood of successful exploitation attempts that rely on manipulating freed memory regions. Continuous monitoring for similar patterns in future updates and adherence to secure coding practices such as using smart pointers or automatic reference counting where applicable can further prevent recurrence of CWE-416 vulnerabilities across Apple's ecosystem.