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Mallory
Medium

Process memory disclosure in Apple ImageIO via crafted image parsing

IdentifiersCVE-2026-20634CWE-125

CVE-2026-20634 is an Apple ImageIO memory-handling flaw where processing a maliciously crafted image can cause disclosure of process memory. The issue is described as being fixed via improved memory handling and is associated (per the provided supporting content) with out-of-bounds read behavior during image parsing (notably referenced in relation to SGI image parsing in ImageIO), resulting in reads past the end of an allocated buffer and subsequent exposure of in-process memory contents to the attacker-controlled parsing context.

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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.

Information disclosure of process memory in the context of the application/service invoking ImageIO to parse the crafted image. This can leak sensitive in-memory data and may aid exploitation of other vulnerabilities (e.g., by defeating ASLR or exposing secrets) when chained, but the described primary impact is memory disclosure rather than direct code execution.

Mitigation

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

No vendor workaround is described in the provided content. Practical mitigation prior to patching is to reduce exposure to untrusted images (avoid opening/rendering attacker-supplied images and limit ingestion paths that invoke ImageIO on untrusted content) until updates can be deployed.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Apply Apple security updates that include the fix for CVE-2026-20634. The provided content indicates the issue is fixed in: watchOS 26.3, tvOS 26.3, macOS Tahoe 26.3, macOS Sonoma 14.8.4, macOS Sequoia 15.7.4, iOS 18.7.5, iPadOS 18.7.5, visionOS 26.3, iOS 26.3, and iPadOS 26.3.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

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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
AppleTvosoperating_system
AppleVisionosoperating_system
AppleWatchosoperating_system

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What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

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

Social activity9

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