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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 19 Feb 2025.
IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2025-24085

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.3 / 11.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, iPadOS 17.7.6, macOS Sequoia 15.3, macOS Sonoma 14.7.5, macOS Ventura 13.7.5, tvOS 18.3, visionOS 2.3, watchOS 11.3. A malicious application may be able to elevate privileges. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS before iOS 17.2.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A use-after-free vulnerability in Apple operating systems (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, watchOS) that allows a malicious application to elevate privileges to root/administrator level. This is a memory management flaw that was being actively exploited in the wild as a zero-day against iOS versions prior to iOS 17.2.

MitigationApply the available security updates immediately: iOS 18.3 or iPadOS 17.7.6 and later, macOS Sequoia 15.3/Sonoma 14.7.5/Ventura 13.7.5 and later, tvOS 18.3, visionOS 2.3, and watchOS 11.3. Prioritize iOS devices given confirmed active exploitation.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 17.7.6>= 18.0, < 18.3
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 18.3
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 13.0, < 13.7.5>= 14.0, < 14.7.5>= 15.0, < 15.3
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 18.3
VisionosOperating system
Affected:< 2.3
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 11.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check iOS version
    On the device, go to Settings > General > About and note the version number shown next to 'Version'
    Affected if Version is below 17.7.6, OR version is 18.0, 18.1, or 18.2 (meaning it is >= 18.0 and < 18.3)
  2. Check iPadOS version
    On the iPad, go to Settings > General > About and note the version number shown next to 'Version'
    Affected if Version is below 17.7.6, OR version is 18.0, 18.1, or 18.2 (meaning it is >= 18.0 and < 18.3)
  3. Check macOS version
    Click the Apple menu > About This Mac. The version number appears below the macOS name (for example, 14.2, 15.1, etc.)
    Affected if Version is 13.0 through 13.7.4, OR 14.0 through 14.7.4, OR 15.0 through 15.2 (check against the ranges >= 13.0 and < 13.7.5, >= 14.0 and < 14.7.5, >= 15.0 and < 15.3)
  4. Check tvOS version
    On Apple TV, go to Settings > General > About > Version to see the installed tvOS version
    Affected if Version is below 18.3 (any version from 16.x, 17.x, or 18.0-18.2)
  5. Check visionOS version
    On the Vision Pro, go to Settings > General > About to view the visionOS version number
    Affected if Version is below 2.3 (any version 1.x or 2.0-2.2)
  6. Check watchOS version
    Open the Watch app on the paired iPhone, go to General > About, or on Apple Watch go to Settings > General > About. The version is listed next to 'watchOS'
    Affected if Version is below 11.3

If your device runs any of the affected Apple OS versions listed above, you are potentially affected by this privilege escalation vulnerability.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.3 / 11.3 / 13.7.5 or later
Fixed in 2.311.313.7.5
Interim mitigation

Apply the available security updates immediately: iOS 18.3 or iPadOS 17.7.6 and later, macOS Sequoia 15.3/Sonoma 14.7.5/Ventura 13.7.5 and later, tvOS 18.3, visionOS 2.3, and watchOS 11.3. Prioritize iOS devices given confirmed active exploitation.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the fixed version for your device: iOS 18.3/iPadOS 18.3/iPadOS 17.7.6, macOS 13.7.5/14.7.5/15.3, tvOS 18.3, visionOS 2.3, or watchOS 11.3

  1. Identify the Apple device type (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, or Apple Watch)
  2. Determine the current installed version of the operating system
  3. For iPhone: Upgrade to iOS 18.3 or later
  4. For iPad: Upgrade to iPadOS 18.3 (if on iPadOS 18.x) or iPadOS 17.7.6 (if on iPadOS 17.x)
  5. For Mac: Upgrade to macOS Ventura 13.7.5, macOS Sonoma 14.7.5, or macOS Sequoia 15.3 depending on current macOS version
  6. For Apple TV: Upgrade to tvOS 18.3
  7. For Apple Vision Pro: Upgrade to visionOS 2.3
  8. For Apple Watch: Upgrade to watchOS 11.3
Caveat Standard Apple OS upgrade considerations apply: backup data before upgrading, ensure compatible apps, some legacy software may not function on newer OS versions

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Ipados Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,870
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-24085 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data