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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 5 Mar 2026.
IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2026-20700

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 26.3 or later.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild 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 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.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Apple operating systems (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, watchOS) that allows an attacker with memory write capability to achieve arbitrary code execution. This is an in-the-wild zero-day that was exploited in highly targeted attacks before being patched in version 26.3 of the respective OSes.

MitigationApply vendor patches immediately: update to iOS 26.3, iPadOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, tvOS 26.3, visionOS 26.3, and watchOS 26.3. Given known in-the-wild exploitation, prioritize patching for any devices running versions before iOS 26.

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:< 26.3
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 26.3
macOSOperating system
Affected:< 26.3
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 26.3
VisionosOperating system
Affected:< 26.3
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 26.3

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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. Identify the Apple operating system
    Check System Settings > General > About (iOS/iPadOS/visionOS/watchOS), System Settings > About This Mac (macOS), or Settings > General > About (tvOS) to determine which Apple OS is installed
    Affected if Any of the following: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, or watchOS is running
  2. Check iOS version
    On iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > General > About and note the version number (e.g., 26.2, 26.3, 26.4)
    Affected if Version is earlier than 26.3 (e.g., 26.0, 26.1, 26.2)
  3. Check macOS version
    Click Apple menu > About This Mac and note the version number displayed (e.g., 26.2, 26.3, 26.4)
    Affected if Version is earlier than 26.3 (e.g., 26.0, 26.1, 26.2)
  4. Check tvOS or watchOS version
    On Apple TV, go to Settings > General > About. On Apple Watch, open Settings app on the watch, go to General > About, and note the version number
    Affected if Version is earlier than 26.3 (e.g., 26.0, 26.1, 26.2)

You are affected if any device runs iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, or watchOS version 26.2 or earlier (i.e., any version below 26.3).

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 26.3 or later
Fixed in 26.3
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patches immediately: update to iOS 26.3, iPadOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, tvOS 26.3, visionOS 26.3, and watchOS 26.3. Given known in-the-wild exploitation, prioritize patching for any devices running versions before iOS 26.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 26.3, iPadOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, tvOS 26.3, visionOS 26.3, watchOS 26.3

  1. Check current device OS version in Settings > General > About
  2. Update iOS/iPadOS to version 26.3 or later via Settings > General > Software Update
  3. Update macOS to version 26.3 (Tahoe) via System Settings > Software Update
  4. Update tvOS to version 26.3 via Settings > System > Software Updates
  5. Update watchOS to version 26.3 via the Watch app on iPhone > General > Software Update
  6. Update visionOS to version 26.3 via Settings > General > Software Update
  7. After updating, verify the version number in Settings > General > About matches 26.3 or later
Caveat Standard iOS/macOS upgrade considerations apply - ensure backups exist before updating, some older apps may be incompatible with major OS updates

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

Fix this in Ipados Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2026-20700 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