Overview
CVE-2025-43186 is a significant cybersecurity vulnerability that has been identified in a range of Apple operating systems. These include watchOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, macOS Sequoia, macOS Sonoma, visionOS, and macOS Ventura. The vulnerability pertains to the handling of memory, where parsing a file might lead to an unexpected application termination. In severe cases, it could pave the way for potential system compromise and data leakage, posing a substantial risk to user privacy, data security, and overall system integrity. Given the widespread use of Apple products, this vulnerability has far-reaching implications that demand immediate attention and remediation.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-43186
Severity: Critical, CVSS score: 9.8
Attack Vector: Local/Remote
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Unexpected application termination, potential system compromise and data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
watchOS | 11.6
iOS | 18.6
iPadOS | 18.6
tvOS | 18.6
macOS Sequoia | 15.6
macOS Sonoma | 14.7.7
visionOS | 2.6
macOS Ventura | 13.7.7
How the Exploit Works
This vulnerability exploits the improper memory handling mechanism in the affected Apple Operating Systems. When a file is parsed by the system, it can lead to unexpected application termination. This application termination could be leveraged by an attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial-of-service condition. In the worst-case scenario, the vulnerability could be exploited to compromise the system entirely and leak sensitive data.
Conceptual Example Code
The following is a hypothetical example of how this vulnerability might be exploited. This pseudocode is purely illustrative:
import malicious_module
def exploit(target_file):
crafted_file = malicious_module.create('exploit_data')
target_file.parse(crafted_file)
if target_file.is_terminated_unexpectedly():
malicious_module.execute_arbitrary_code()
malicious_module.leak_data()In this example, an attacker uses a malicious module to create a crafted file that, when parsed by the target file, causes the application to terminate unexpectedly. This unexpected termination then allows the attacker to execute arbitrary code or leak data from the system. This conceptual example underlines why all affected users should apply the recommended patches or use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as temporary mitigation.