CVE-2026-49269
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 · uneditedApple M1 GPUs retain register file data between compute shader dispatches from different processes. A sandboxed Metal attacker app can run a GPU reader shader that reads stale register values left by a separate sandboxed victim app. In the proof of concept, GPUVictim.app generates a fresh random 128-bit secret using SecRandomCopyBytes and loads it into GPU registers. GPUAttacker.app, a separate sandboxed app, recovers the exact secret from stale GPU register state. NOTE: The vendor stated that this behavior affects only legacy hardware and has already been addressed at the hardware level in current-generation Apple Silicon.
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 confidenceApple M1 GPUs fail to clear register file data between compute shader dispatches from different sandboxed processes, allowing a malicious Metal application to read stale register values containing secrets (e.g., 128-bit random numbers) left by victim applications.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Apple M1 hardware in useRun 'sysctl -a | grep machdep.cpu.brand_string' or check System Information > Hardware Overview for CPU brandAffected if CPU is any first-generation Apple M1 chip (M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, M1 Mini, or variants)
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Check for running Metal applicationsOpen Activity Monitor, select the GPU tab, or run 'ps -eo pid,comm,%cpu | grep -i metal' to list processes using MetalAffected if Multiple sandboxed applications are simultaneously executing Metal compute workloads
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Audit GPU compute usage with sensitive dataReview which applications process sensitive information (credentials, cryptographic keys, personal data) and whether they use Metal compute shadersAffected if Applications handling sensitive data are actively using Metal compute shaders on the GPU
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Check for concurrent Metal app usageMonitor for multiple Metal applications running simultaneously, especially if untrusted third-party apps are presentAffected if A potentially malicious Metal application can run concurrently with a victim's Metal compute workload
The environment is affected if it uses first-generation Apple M1 silicon and runs concurrent Metal compute applications where one could be an untrusted malicious app reading stale GPU register values.
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 · scopedNo software patch available; vendor indicates this is hardware-fixed in current-generation Apple Silicon. For legacy M1 hardware, avoid processing sensitive data on GPU or consider hardware replacement.
- This is a hardware-level vulnerability in Apple M1 GPUs that has already been addressed in current-generation Apple Silicon.
- Verify the hardware generation of affected systems - this issue only affects legacy M1 hardware, not current-generation Apple Silicon.
- No software patch is available or required as the vulnerability has been mitigated at the hardware level in newer Apple Silicon chips.
- If concerned about this vulnerability on legacy hardware, consider upgrading to a system with current-generation Apple Silicon.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-49269 — 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-2026-49269 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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- 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