CVE-2026-112695 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 process termination.
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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 CWE-416 classification in the Common Weakness Enumeration standard. This type of memory management flaw occurs when software continues to use a pointer after it has been freed or deallocated from the system's heap. In the context of web browsers like Safari, this typically involves JavaScript objects or DOM elements that are referenced by scripts even after their underlying memory resources have been released back to the operating system for reuse. The root cause lies in improper lifecycle management where references to these objects are not cleared immediately upon deallocation, leaving dangling pointers that can be accessed inadvertently during subsequent operations.
From a technical perspective, when an attacker crafts malicious web content containing specific sequences of JavaScript commands or HTML structures, they can trigger the premature release of memory associated with browser components such as layout engines or rendering processes. Once this memory is freed but still referenced by active code paths, any attempt to read from or write to that address results in undefined behavior. Because modern operating systems employ various memory protection mechanisms like Address Space Layout Randomization and Data Execution Prevention, the immediate result of accessing freed memory often manifests as a crash rather than direct exploitation. However, this instability is significant because it disrupts normal service availability and can serve as an initial foothold for more complex attacks if combined with other vulnerabilities or specific heap grooming techniques that allow control over what data occupies the reclaimed memory space.
The operational impact of this vulnerability centers on denial of service through unexpected process termination. When a user visits a maliciously crafted webpage, the browser engine may encounter the dangling pointer during rendering or script execution phases. This triggers an exception handler within Safari which forces the application to terminate abruptly to prevent further corruption or potential security breaches. For end-users, this results in interrupted browsing sessions and loss of unsaved work if tabs are not properly restored by session management features. While the primary observed effect is a crash, use-after-free vulnerabilities are historically among the most dangerous classes because they can potentially be leveraged for arbitrary code execution under certain conditions where an attacker successfully controls the contents of the freed memory block before it is reallocated and accessed again.
Mitigation strategies primarily rely on the software updates provided by Apple in 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. These updates implement improved memory management logic within the WebKit engine to ensure that references are nullified or removed immediately after deallocation, thereby preventing access to invalid addresses. Users should prioritize installing these patches as soon as possible to close this attack vector. Additionally, from a defensive posture perspective, enabling sandboxing features and keeping browser security settings at their highest levels can limit the potential impact of any residual vulnerabilities that might exist in older versions or unpatched systems. Security teams monitoring for exploitation attempts should look for indicators such as frequent Safari crashes associated with specific web domains or unusual memory allocation patterns consistent with heap grooming activities, aligning with ATT&CK techniques related to initial access and privilege escalation via browser-based exploits.