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IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2026-28951

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.8.7 / 15.7.7 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An authorization issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7.9 and iPadOS 18.7.9, iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5, macOS Sequoia 15.7.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8.7, macOS Tahoe 26.5. An app may be able to gain root privileges.

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

This is a privilege escalation vulnerability where an authorization issue combined with improper state management allows a malicious or compromised application to gain root privileges. The fix involves improved state validation to ensure proper authorization checks are enforced throughout the application lifecycle.

MitigationApply the available security updates: update to iOS 18.7.9/iPadOS 18.7.9, iOS 26.5/iPadOS 26.5, macOS Sequoia 15.7.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8.7, or macOS Tahoe 26.5 to remediate this vulnerability.

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:< 18.7.9>= 26.0, < 26.5
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 18.7.9>= 26.0, < 26.5
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 14.0, < 14.8.7>= 15.0, < 15.7.7>= 26.0, < 26.5

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 iOS/iPadOS version
    On the device, go to Settings > General > About > Version, or connect to a computer and use iTunes/ Finder, or use Xcode to check the device information
    Affected if The version displayed is less than 18.7.9, or is 26.0 through 26.4.x (any version >= 26.0 but < 26.5)
  2. Identify macOS version
    Click the Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal
    Affected if The version is macOS Sonoma 14.0 through 14.8.6, macOS Sequoia 15.0 through 15.7.6, or macOS Tahoe 26.0 through 26.4.x (i.e., >= 14.0 and < 14.8.7, or >= 15.0 and < 15.7.7, or >= 26.0 and < 26.5)
  3. Determine if the device is an iPhone or iPad
    Check the device model through Settings > General > About > Model Name, or visually identify the device type
    Affected if The device is an iPhone or iPad running a version identified as affected in step 1

A user is affected if their iPhone, iPad, or Mac runs any of the specific versions listed as vulnerable - the flaw exists in the OS authorization logic itself and cannot be mitigated through configuration changes.

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 14.8.7 / 15.7.7 / 18.7.9 or later
Fixed in 14.8.715.7.718.7.9
Interim mitigation

Apply the available security updates: update to iOS 18.7.9/iPadOS 18.7.9, iOS 26.5/iPadOS 26.5, macOS Sequoia 15.7.7, macOS Sonoma 14.8.7, or macOS Tahoe 26.5 to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 18.7.9/iPadOS 18.7.9 or iOS 26.5/iPadOS 26.5 for iPhone/iPad; macOS Sonoma 14.8.7, macOS Sequoia 15.7.7, or macOS Tahoe 26.5 for Mac

  1. Back up your device before performing the update
  2. For iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install the available security update
  3. For Mac: Go to System Settings > General > Software Update and install the available security update
  4. Alternatively, manually install iOS 18.7.9/iPadOS 18.7.9 or iOS 26.5/iPadOS 26.5 on iPhone/iPad
  5. Alternatively, manually install macOS Sonoma 14.8.7, macOS Sequoia 15.7.7, or macOS Tahoe 26.5 on Mac
Caveat Standard iOS/macOS update considerations apply - review app compatibility 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
Get the upgrade done

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

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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-2026-28951 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