CVE-2026-84571 in iPadOS
Summary
by MITRE • 09/15/2026
A buffer overflow was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, watchOS 27. Processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to unexpected app termination.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/15/2026
The vulnerability described involves a buffer overflow condition within the image processing subsystem of Apple's operating systems, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS. Buffer overflows occur when a program writes more data to a fixed-length block of memory than it can hold, causing adjacent memory locations to be overwritten with unintended values. In this specific instance, the flaw stems from insufficient bounds checking during the parsing or rendering of image files. When an application processes a maliciously crafted image file designed to exploit this weakness, the excessive input causes the buffer boundary to be exceeded, leading to memory corruption. This type of vulnerability is classically categorized under CWE-120: Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input, which highlights the failure of the software to validate that incoming data fits within the allocated memory space before performing copy operations.
The operational impact of this flaw primarily manifests as a denial of service condition rather than immediate remote code execution or privilege escalation in its current state. As noted by Apple, processing such maliciously crafted images may lead to unexpected app termination. This indicates that while the underlying mechanism is a buffer overflow, the exploitability for arbitrary code execution might be mitigated by existing memory protection mechanisms like ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) and DEP/NX (Data Execution Prevention), which are standard in modern iOS and macOS environments. However, the crash itself represents a significant stability issue that can disrupt user workflows and potentially serve as an initial vector for more complex attacks if combined with other vulnerabilities or specific memory states. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1496: Resource Hijacking, specifically under the sub-technique of Denial of Service via application crashes, although it is fundamentally rooted in improper input validation and memory management errors typical of CWE categories related to buffer handling.
Apple has addressed this issue by implementing improved bounds checking within the image processing libraries. This fix ensures that any data read from an image file is strictly validated against the allocated buffer size before being processed or rendered. By enforcing these stricter limits, the system prevents the overflow condition from occurring, thereby maintaining memory integrity and application stability even when encountering malformed inputs. Users are advised to update their devices to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, or watchOS 27 to mitigate this risk. For developers integrating image processing functionalities into custom applications, it is critical to ensure that all third-party libraries and internal parsers adhere to strict input validation standards consistent with CWE-134: Use of Externally-Controlled Format String or similar memory safety guidelines to prevent similar issues in future software versions.