CVE-2025-43520 — Apple Ipados Vulnerability

What is CVE-2025-43520?

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7.2 and iPadOS 18.7.2, iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1, macOS Sequoia 15.7.2, macOS Sonoma 14.8.2, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, visionOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1. A malicious application may be able to cause unexpected system termination or write kernel memory.

The record classifies CVE-2025-43520 under weakness class CWE-120. Its CVSS v3 base vector states that the flaw requires local access to the host, needs low-privilege credentials, needs no user interaction, and has high impact on availability. 9 affected-product entries are recorded, across 1 vendor, listed below. The identifier was first published 325 days ago.

Severity and exploitation probability

CVSS v3.1 base score: 5.5 — MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS (FIRST): 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 34.8% of all scored CVEs
CISA KEV: Listed since 2026-03-20, federal remediation deadline 2026-04-03
Threadlinqs priority: 9/10 — CISA KEV-listed, which Threadlinqs floors at 9
Published: 2025-12-12, last modified 2026-09-21

Is CVE-2025-43520 being exploited?

CISA added CVE-2025-43520 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-03-20, which means the agency holds evidence of exploitation in the wild; US federal civilian agencies had to remediate it by 2026-04-03 under BOD 22-01. It currently carries a trending score of 34 in the Threadlinqs vulnerability feed.

Affected products and versions

Apple: Ipados, Ipados 26.0, Iphone Os, Iphone Os 26.0, Macos, Macos 26.0, Tvos, Visionos, Watchos

How to fix CVE-2025-43520

The record marks a vendor fix as available for CVE-2025-43520. Vendor advisory: https://support.apple.com/en-us/125632. Because CVE-2025-43520 is KEV-listed, US federal civilian agencies were required to apply the vendor fix, or stop using the product, by 2026-04-03. Apply the vendor fix referenced above to every affected product listed in this record, then confirm the running version against the vendor advisory.

Threat activity tracking CVE-2025-43520

4 tracked threats in the Threadlinqs corpus reference CVE-2025-43520, either in the campaign’s CVE list or as an indicator on the campaign record.

DeadTag campaign: Coruna and DarkSword iPhone exploit kits delivered via expired ad/analytics tags, compromised websites and malicious ads — HIGH · 2026-10-27
Coruna and DarkSword iOS Spyware Delivered via Instagram Ads, Hijacked Expired Ad/Analytics Domains and Compromised PrestaShop Stores (DeadTag) — HIGH · 2026-10-27
Coruna and DarkSword iOS Exploit Kits Compromise iPhones via Single Malicious Website (UNC6353, UNC6691, UNC6748, PARS Defense) — HIGH · 2026-10-14
DarkSword: iOS Exploit Chain Adopted by Multiple Threat Actors (CVE-2026-20700, CVE-2025-43529, CVE-2025-31277) — CRITICAL · 2026-03-18

Sources

Enriched from CVE.org, FIRST EPSS, CISA KEV, GitHub Security Advisories. Last verified by Threadlinqs on 2026-10-10.

Other references

Showing 5 of 10 recorded references.