Apple OS 26.3: Memory Corruption CVE-2026-20700 Fixed
CVE-2026-20700 Published on February 11, 2026
A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in watchOS 26.3, tvOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, visionOS 26.3, iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3. An attacker with memory write capability may be able to execute arbitrary code. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals on versions of iOS before iOS 26. CVE-2025-14174 and CVE-2025-43529 were also issued in response to this report.
Known Exploited Vulnerability
This Apple Multiple Buffer Overflow Vulnerability is part of CISA's list of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities. Apple iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS contain an improper restriction of operations within the bounds of a memory buffer vulnerability that could allow an attacker with memory write the capability to execute arbitrary code.
The following remediation steps are recommended / required by March 5, 2026: 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-2026-20700 is exploitable with local system access, and requires small amount of user privileges. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. This vulnerability is known to be actively exploited by threat actors. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to be very high.
Weakness Type
What is a Buffer Overflow Vulnerability?
The software performs operations on a memory buffer, but it can read from or write to a memory location that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer.
CVE-2026-20700 has been classified to as a Buffer Overflow vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-20700
You can be notified by email with stack.watch whenever vulnerabilities like CVE-2026-20700 are published in these products:
Affected Versions
Apple macOS:- Version unspecified and below 26.3 is affected.
- Version unspecified and below 26.3 is affected.
- Version unspecified and below 26.3 is affected.
- Version unspecified and below 26.3 is affected.
- Version unspecified and below 26.3 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.