dbcve.org
IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2026-28858

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 26.4 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 buffer overflow was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4. A remote user may be able to cause unexpected system termination or corrupt kernel memory.

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 · moderate confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability in iOS and iPadOS 26.4 allows remote attackers to corrupt kernel memory or cause unexpected system termination due to insufficient bounds checking during memory operations.

MitigationUpdate affected iOS/iPadOS devices to version 26.4 or later, which includes the improved bounds checking fix. Deploy via MDM or direct user notification for immediate patching.

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:< 26.4
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 26.4

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Check iOS version on device
    Go to Settings > General > About > Version on the iPhone or iPad, or use an MDM solution or Xcode to query the device's iOS version programmatically
    Affected if The displayed version number is less than 26.4 (for example, 26.3, 25.x, or earlier)
  2. Check iPadOS version on device
    Go to Settings > General > About > Version on the iPad, or use an MDM solution or Xcode to query the device's iPadOS version programmatically
    Affected if The displayed version number is less than 26.4 (for example, 26.3, 25.x, or earlier)

If either iOS or iPadOS version is below 26.4, the device is affected by this buffer overflow vulnerability in the kernel memory operations.

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 26.4 or later
Fixed in 26.4
Interim mitigation

Update affected iOS/iPadOS devices to version 26.4 or later, which includes the improved bounds checking fix. Deploy via MDM or direct user notification for immediate patching.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4

  1. Backup your device data before updating
  2. Check current iOS/iPadOS version in Settings > General > About
  3. Navigate to Settings > General > Software Update
  4. Download and install iOS 26.4 or iPadOS 26.4
  5. After update completes, verify the version in Settings > General > About shows 26.4
Caveat iOS 26 is a major version upgrade; review Apple's iOS 26 release notes for app compatibility and feature changes before updating

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

Fix this in Ipados Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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-2026-28858 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