IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2025-43444

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 26.1 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7.2 and iPadOS 18.7.2, iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, visionOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1. An app may be able to fingerprint the user.

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

This is a permissions bypass vulnerability in Apple operating systems that allowed applications to collect device or user information sufficient to fingerprint users (track them across sessions or apps). The fix added additional restrictions to limit what data apps can access for identification purposes.

MitigationUpdate affected Apple devices to iOS 18.7.2/iPadOS 18.7.2, iOS 26.1/iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, visionOS 26.1, or watchOS 26.1 as appropriate. No configuration changes are needed beyond the OS update.

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:< 26.1
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 26.1
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 26.1
VisionosOperating system
Affected:< 26.1
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 26.1

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

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 the operating system version on your Apple device
    On iPhone/iPad: go to Settings > General > About and note the version number. On Apple TV: go to Settings > General > About. On Apple Vision: go to Settings > General > About. On Apple Watch: open the Watch app on iPhone, go to General > About.
    Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 26.1 (for example, 18.7.1, 25.x, or any version below 26.1)
  2. Confirm the specific OS type matches an affected product
    Verify whether your device runs iPadOS, iPhone OS, tvOS, visionOS, or watchOS as listed in the affected products.
    Affected if The device runs any of these five operating systems and the version is below 26.1

You are affected if your device runs iPadOS, iPhone OS, tvOS, visionOS, or watchOS with a version number lower than 26.1.

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 26.1 or later
Fixed in 26.1
Interim mitigation

Update affected Apple devices to iOS 18.7.2/iPadOS 18.7.2, iOS 26.1/iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, visionOS 26.1, or watchOS 26.1 as appropriate. No configuration changes are needed beyond the OS update.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 18.7.2/iPadOS 18.7.2, iOS 26.1/iPadOS 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, visionOS 26.1, or macOS Tahoe 26.1 (based on device type)

  1. Identify the Apple device type (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, or Mac)
  2. Determine the current installed version of the operating system
  3. For iPhone/iPad: Upgrade to iOS 18.7.2/iPadOS 18.7.2 OR iOS 26.1/iPadOS 26.1 (depending on which version track is applicable)
  4. For Apple TV: Upgrade to tvOS 26.1
  5. For Apple Watch: Upgrade to watchOS 26.1
  6. For Apple Vision Pro: Upgrade to visionOS 26.1
  7. For Mac: Upgrade to macOS Tahoe 26.1
  8. After upgrade, verify the OS version matches the fixed release
Caveat Ensure device has sufficient battery or is connected to power during update; backup important data before upgrading

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

Fix this in Ipados Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-43444 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2025-43444 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