CVE-2026-65412 in iOS
Summary
by MITRE • 09/15/2026
A null pointer dereference was addressed with improved input validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.7 and iPadOS 26.7, iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7, visionOS 27, watchOS 27. Processing web content may lead to a denial-of-service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/15/2026
The vulnerability described involves a null pointer dereception within the system components responsible for processing web content across multiple Apple operating systems including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, visionOS, and watchOS. This type of flaw typically occurs when software attempts to access memory at an address that has not been allocated or initialized properly, resulting in a reference to NULL instead of valid data. In this specific instance, the root cause is identified as insufficient input validation during the handling of web content. When malformed or unexpected inputs are processed by the affected components, they trigger conditions where pointers remain null rather than being validated against expected states before use. This lack of rigorous checks allows the execution flow to proceed into code paths that assume valid memory addresses, leading directly to a crash when the system attempts to dereference these invalid references.
From an operational perspective, the primary impact of this vulnerability is a denial-of-service condition for applications and services relying on web content processing capabilities. Because null pointer dereferences generally cause immediate termination or segmentation faults in modern operating systems with memory protection mechanisms like ASLR and DEP enabled, any process encountering this flaw will likely crash unexpectedly. For end-users, this manifests as application instability, unresponsive interfaces, or forced restarts of system services that handle web rendering such as Safari or embedded WebKit views. While the immediate effect is limited to availability rather than confidentiality or integrity, repeated exploitation could lead to significant service disruption in environments where continuous uptime and stable performance are critical. The vulnerability does not appear to facilitate arbitrary code execution based on the provided description, but it represents a reliability risk that can be leveraged by malicious actors to disrupt user workflows through crafted web content designed specifically to trigger this parsing error.
In terms of industry standard classifications, this issue aligns with CWE-476 which denotes NULL Pointer Dereference. This category covers cases where software dereferences a pointer that it expects to refer to valid memory but actually refers to an invalid location such as address zero. The attack vector for exploiting this flaw likely involves delivering specially crafted web content via HTTP or HTTPS requests, placing the vulnerability within the context of input validation failures often associated with CWE-20 Improper Input Validation. Furthermore, from a tactical standpoint in cyber threat intelligence frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK, this behavior corresponds to techniques that aim to disrupt service availability rather than gain persistent access. Attackers might utilize automated scripts to send malformed payloads targeting vulnerable endpoints or applications, effectively creating a low-effort denial-of-service attack against systems running the affected software versions without requiring authentication or complex privilege escalation steps.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability primarily involve applying the provided patches which address the issue through improved input validation mechanisms. Organizations and individual users must ensure that all devices are updated to iOS 26.7, iPadOS 26.7, iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7, visionOS 27, or watchOS 27 as specified in the security update documentation. For developers integrating web content rendering capabilities into custom applications, it is advisable to implement robust input sanitization and validation routines that check for null values before dereferencing pointers. Additionally, employing defensive programming practices such as using safe pointer wrappers or assertion checks during development can help prevent similar issues from being introduced in future code revisions. Security teams should also monitor logs for unexpected application crashes related to web content processing which may indicate attempted exploitation of this flaw by external actors seeking to disrupt system availability.