Race Condition in Apple OS Leads to Unexpected Termination (fixed iOS 18.7.9)
CVE-2026-28986 Published on May 11, 2026
A race condition was addressed with additional validation. 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, tvOS 26.5, watchOS 26.5. An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2026-28986 is exploitable with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity, and a high impact on availability.
Weakness Type
What is a Race Condition Vulnerability?
The program contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently.
CVE-2026-28986 has been classified to as a Race Condition vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-28986
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Affected Versions
Apple iOS and iPadOS:- Before 18.7.9 is affected.
- Before 26.5 is affected.
- Before 14.8.7 is affected.
- Before 15.7.7 is affected.
- Before 26.5 is affected.
- Before 26.5 is affected.
- Before 26.5 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.