What is CVE-2026-20700?
A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, tvOS 26.3, visionOS 26.3, watchOS 26.3. An attacker with memory write capability may be able to execute arbitrary code. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals on versions of iOS before iOS 26. CVE-2025-14174 and CVE-2025-43529 were also issued in response to this report.
The record classifies CVE-2026-20700 under weakness class CWE-119. 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 confidentiality, integrity, availability. 6 affected-product entries are recorded, across 1 vendor, listed below. The identifier was first published 264 days ago.
Severity and exploitation probability
- CVSS v3.1 base score
- 7.8 — HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - EPSS (FIRST)
- 1.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 71.5% of all scored CVEs
- CISA KEV
- Listed since 2026-02-12, federal remediation deadline 2026-03-05
- Threadlinqs priority
- 9/10 — CISA KEV-listed, which Threadlinqs floors at 9
- Published
- 2026-02-11, last modified 2026-04-02
Is CVE-2026-20700 being exploited?
CISA added CVE-2026-20700 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-02-12, which means the agency holds evidence of exploitation in the wild; US federal civilian agencies had to remediate it by 2026-03-05 under BOD 22-01. Weaponised exploit code for CVE-2026-20700 is publicly available. 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are tracked for this identifier. It currently carries a trending score of 51 in the Threadlinqs vulnerability feed.
- R3n3r0/CVE-2026-20700 (github)
- notthemystery/CVE-2026-20700-POC-that-ll-never-work (github)
Affected products and versions
- Apple: Ipados, Iphone Os, Macos, Tvos, Visionos, Watchos
How to fix CVE-2026-20700
Vendor advisory: https://support.apple.com/en-us/126346. Because CVE-2026-20700 is KEV-listed, US federal civilian agencies were required to apply the vendor fix, or stop using the product, by 2026-03-05. 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-2026-20700
5 tracked threats in the Threadlinqs corpus reference CVE-2026-20700, 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
- Apple Zero-Day CVE-2026-20700: Memory Corruption Enabling Arbitrary Code Execution — Google TAG-Discovered 'Extremely Sophisticated' Targeted Attack — CRITICAL · 2026-02-12
Sources
Enriched from CVE.org, FIRST EPSS, CISA KEV, public proof-of-concept repositories. Last verified by Threadlinqs on .
Other references
- support.apple.com
- support.apple.com (126348)
- support.apple.com (126351)
- support.apple.com (126352)
- support.apple.com (126353)
Showing 5 of 6 recorded references.