CVE-2025-43529: Apple Multiple Products

Should you act?

Exploited: patch now if you run it

CISA has confirmed exploitation in the wild. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

Yes, if you run Apple Multiple Products. CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2025-12-15, which means there is reliable evidence of exploitation in the wild. US federal agencies must remediate by 2026-01-05; treat that as the outer limit, not the target.
EPSS 8.8%, percentile 95: FIRST’s model estimates a 8.8% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 95% of all scored CVEs (very high). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
Needs a user to click or open something. Phishing makes that realistic, but it is not wormable.

What it is

A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in Safari 26.2, iOS 18.7.3 and iPadOS 18.7.3, iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2, macOS Tahoe 26.2, tvOS 26.2, visionOS 26.2, watchOS 26.2. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. 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 was also issued in response to this report.

CISA’s summary

Apple iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and other Apple products contain a use-after-free vulnerability in WebKit. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to memory corruption. This vulnerability could impact HTML parsers that use WebKit, including but not limited to Apple Safari and non-Apple products which rely on WebKit for HTML processing.

Weakness type: CWE-416.

Product: Apple Multiple Products · Assigned by: apple · Published: 2025-12-17

Affected and fixed versions

Vendor	Product	Affected versions (per CVE record)
Apple	Safari	< 26.2
Apple	iOS and iPadOS	< 18.7.3, < 26.2
Apple	macOS	< 26.2
Apple	tvOS	< 26.2
Apple	visionOS	< 26.2
Apple	watchOS	< 26.2

Severity scores

Scored by	CVSS	Score	Vector
CISA-ADP	3.1	8.8 High	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`

Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
Attack complexity: low
Privileges required: none (no login)
User interaction: required (a user must click/open something)
Scope: unchanged

CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.

Exploitation and urgency

CISA KEV: added 2025-12-15; federal due date 2026-01-05. Known ransomware use: Unknown.
CISA required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact total.
FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 8.76% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 95.

Timeline

2025-12-15 — Added to CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
2025-12-17 — CVE record published by apple
2026-01-05 — CISA remediation deadline for US federal agencies
2026-09-21 — CVE record last updated

Sources and references

Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

support.apple.com support.apple.com
support.apple.com support.apple.com

All exploited Apple vulnerabilities · Today’s Security Digest