Apple iOS & tvOS 18.4.1 Pointer Authentication Bypass (arbitrary R/W)
CVE-2025-31201 Published on April 16, 2025
This issue was addressed by removing the vulnerable code. This issue is fixed in tvOS 18.4.1, visionOS 2.4.1, iOS iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1, macOS Sequoia 15.4.1. An attacker with arbitrary read and write capability may be able to bypass Pointer Authentication. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals on iOS.
Known Exploited Vulnerability
This Apple Multiple Products Arbitrary Read and Write Vulnerability is part of CISA's list of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities. Apple iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and other Apple products contain an arbitrary read and write vulnerability that allows an attacker to bypass Pointer Authentication.
The following remediation steps are recommended / required by May 8, 2025: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2025-31201 can be exploited with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. This vulnerability is known to be actively exploited by threat actors in an automatable fashion. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to be critical as this vulnerability has a high impact to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of this component.
Weakness Type
Insufficient Granularity of Access Control
The product implements access controls via a policy or other feature with the intention to disable or restrict accesses (reads and/or writes) to assets in a system from untrusted agents. However, implemented access controls lack required granularity, which renders the control policy too broad because it allows accesses from unauthorized agents to the security-sensitive assets.
Products Associated with CVE-2025-31201
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Affected Versions
Apple visionOS:- Version unspecified and below 2.4 is affected.
- Version unspecified and below 18.4 is affected.
- Version unspecified and below 18.4 is affected.
- Version unspecified and below 15.4 is affected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.