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Mallory
High

CoreServices path-handling LPE to root (Apple platforms)

IdentifiersCVE-2026-20615CWE-22· Improper Limitation of a Pathname…

CVE-2026-20615 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Apple CoreServices caused by a path-handling/validation flaw. Apple describes it as a “path handling issue” addressed with improved validation. Successful exploitation could allow a locally running app to gain root privileges. The issue is fixed in iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, and visionOS 26.3.

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For your environment

Are you exposed to this one?

Mallory correlates every CVE against your assets, your vendors, and active adversary campaigns. Know which vulnerabilities matter for you, not just which ones are loud.

ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Local privilege escalation: a malicious application may be able to obtain root privileges on affected Apple operating systems (iOS/iPadOS/macOS/visionOS) prior to the fixed releases.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

No specific workaround is provided in the referenced advisory content. Risk reduction prior to patching is limited to operational controls such as restricting installation/execution of untrusted apps and enforcing least-privilege/allowlisting where feasible.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Apply vendor updates that include the fix for CVE-2026-20615: iOS 26.3, iPadOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, and visionOS 26.3.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
AppleIpadosoperating_system
AppleIphone Osoperating_system
AppleMacosoperating_system
AppleVisionosoperating_system

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.
Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity7

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.