Apple Safari/visionOS/watchOS/iOS/iPadOS up to 26.0 Web Content use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Apple Safari, visionOS, watchOS, iOS and iPadOS up to 26.0. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects unknown code of the component Web Content Handler. The manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2025-43457. The attack can be launched remotely. No exploit exists. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Apple Safari, visionOS, watchOS, iOS and iPadOS up to 26.0. Affected is some unknown processing of the component Web Content Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on availability. CVE summarizes:

A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in watchOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1, Safari 26.1, visionOS 26.1. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to an unexpected Safari crash.

The advisory is shared for download at support.apple.com. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-43457 since 04/16/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploitation doesn't require any form of authentication. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $5k-$25k (estimation calculated on 03/22/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 303253 (Debian dsa-6172 : gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-4.0 - security update), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 26.1 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (303253), EUVD (EUVD-2025-37646) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2480). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Apple Safari

Productinfo

Type

• Web Browser

Vendor

• Apple

Name

• iOS
• iPadOS
• Safari
• visionOS
• watchOS

Version

• 26.0

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.apple.com/

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Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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