CVE-2026-65351 in iOS
Summary
by MITRE • 08/18/2026
This issue was addressed through improved state management. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.6.1 and iPadOS 26.6.1, macOS Tahoe 26.6.2. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to an unexpected Safari crash.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/18/2026
The vulnerability described involves a critical flaw within the state management logic of Apple's WebKit engine, which powers the Safari browser across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS platforms. This specific issue was resolved through improved handling of internal states during the processing of web content. The core technical failure lies in how the browser manages memory or execution contexts when encountering specifically crafted malicious inputs. When a user navigates to a webpage containing this malformed content, the application fails to properly validate or transition its internal state variables, leading to an inconsistency that triggers a fatal error within the rendering process.
From a technical perspective, this type of flaw is often categorized under CWE-20 Improper Input Validation or potentially CWE-416 Use After Free if the crash results from accessing memory that has already been deallocated due to incorrect state transitions. The attack vector typically involves an attacker hosting malicious web content on a server and enticing a user to visit it, either through direct navigation or via cross-site scripting techniques that trigger specific rendering paths within Safari. Because the vulnerability is triggered by processing web content, it represents a remote code execution risk in its most benign form as a denial of service, but more severe implications may exist depending on how the state corruption affects memory safety boundaries.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is primarily characterized by an unexpected crash of the Safari browser application. For end-users, this manifests as a sudden loss of browsing session data and potential interruption of work or communication if they are in the middle of using web-based applications. While the immediate effect is a denial of service to the local user experience, such crashes can sometimes be leveraged for further exploitation attempts by security researchers probing for memory corruption issues that could lead to arbitrary code execution. The instability introduced by these crafted pages undermines the reliability and trustworthiness of the browser as a secure platform for internet access.
Apple has addressed this issue in iOS 26.6.1, iPadOS 26.6.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.6.2 through rigorous updates to the underlying state management mechanisms within WebKit. These patches ensure that invalid or maliciously crafted inputs are handled gracefully without causing application termination. To mitigate this risk, users must update their devices immediately to one of the specified patched versions. Until such updates are applied, organizations should consider implementing network-level filtering solutions that can detect and block known patterns associated with these exploit attempts, although effective mitigation ultimately relies on patching the client-side software as soon as possible.