CVE-2026-28872
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 · uneditedA resource exhaustion issue was addressed with improved input validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7.9 and iPadOS 18.7.9, iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4. A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial-of-service.
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 confidenceA resource exhaustion vulnerability in iOS and iPadOS allows remote attackers to cause denial-of-service via improper input validation. The vulnerability enables a remote attacker to trigger excessive resource consumption leading to service unavailability.
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< 18.7.9>= 26.0, < 26.4< 18.7.9>= 26.0, < 26.4CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify device typeCheck if the device is an iPhone or iPad. Go to Settings > General > About > Model Name (or look at the physical device)Affected if Device must be an iPhone or iPad to be affected by this iOS/iPadOS vulnerability
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Check iOS/iPadOS versionGo to Settings > General > About > Software Version. Note the exact version number displayed (for example, 18.7.5, 26.2, etc.)Affected if The installed version is the key factor - you must know the exact version to compare against affected ranges
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Determine if version is in affected rangeCompare the installed version against the affected ranges: versions less than 18.7.9, OR versions 26.0 through 26.3Affected if If the installed version is below 18.7.9 OR is 26.0, 26.1, 26.2, or 26.3, the device is vulnerable
The device is affected if it runs iOS/iPadOS version 18.7.8 or lower, or any version from 26.0 to 26.3 inclusive.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped18.7.926.4
Apply the vendor-supplied patches by updating affected iOS/iPadOS devices to version 18.7.9 or later (or version 26.4 if that version becomes available). For enterprise environments, use mobile device management (MDM) to verify and enforce OS updates across the device fleet.
iOS 18.7.9 and iPadOS 18.7.9 (or iOS 26.4/iPadOS 26.4 for version 26.x devices)
- Back up your iOS/iPadOS device to preserve data before updating
- Ensure your device is connected to a stable Wi-Fi network and plugged into power
- Go to Settings > General > Software Update on the device
- Download and install the available security update (iOS 18.7.9 or iPadOS 18.7.9 for devices below version 18.7.9; iOS 26.4 or iPadOS 26.4 for devices on versions 26.0 through 26.3)
- Allow the update to complete and the device to restart
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-28872 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-28872 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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