Apple watchOS Web memory corruption

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Apple watchOS. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component Web Handler. This manipulation causes memory corruption. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-31278. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Apple watchOS (version now known). It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is some unknown processing of the component Web Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory corruption vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-119. The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it can read from or write to a memory location that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in iPadOS 17.7.9, watchOS 11.6, visionOS 2.6, iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6, macOS Sequoia 15.6, tvOS 18.6. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to memory corruption.

The advisory is shared at support.apple.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-31278 since 03/27/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/25/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 245574 (Fedora 42 : webkitgtk (2025-61ca72f430)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (245574) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1703). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Fedora Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• IGEL OS
• Open Source WebKitGTK

Productinfo

Type

• Smartwatch Operating System

Vendor

• Apple

Name

• watchOS

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.apple.com/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion