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Medium

Out-of-bounds access in Apple CoreMedia audio stream processing

IdentifiersCVE-2026-20690CWE-125· Out-of-bounds Read

CVE-2026-20690 is an out-of-bounds access vulnerability in Apple CoreMedia affecting multiple Apple platforms, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS. Apple states the issue occurs when processing an audio stream in a maliciously crafted media file and was addressed with improved bounds checking. The available vendor description consistently characterizes the impact as process termination. Supporting third-party reporting further places the flaw in the CoreMedia framework and describes it as stemming from improper validation of user-supplied data during media parsing, resulting in an out-of-bounds memory access during handling of crafted audio content.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

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Impact

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According to Apple’s advisory, successful exploitation may terminate the affected process when a maliciously crafted media file containing a crafted audio stream is processed, resulting in denial of service for the targeted application or service. Third-party reporting also describes the flaw as potentially enabling arbitrary code execution in the context of the current process on macOS, but Apple’s own published impact statement for this CVE is limited to process termination.

Mitigation

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

Until patches can be applied, reduce exposure to untrusted media content and avoid opening media files or visiting pages that may deliver attacker-controlled media streams. In environments where applicable, restrict automatic processing or previewing of untrusted media. Because available information indicates exploitation requires processing a malicious media file or attacker-controlled content, limiting exposure to untrusted content is the primary interim mitigation.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Apply the vendor fixes in the following releases: iOS 18.7.7 and iPadOS 18.7.7; iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4; macOS Sequoia 15.7.5; macOS Sonoma 14.8.5; macOS Tahoe 26.4; tvOS 26.4; visionOS 26.4; and watchOS 26.4. Apple indicates the issue was fixed through improved bounds checking in CoreMedia.
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

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VendorProductType
AppleIpadosoperating_system
AppleIphone Osoperating_system
AppleMacosoperating_system
AppleTvosoperating_system
AppleVisionosoperating_system
AppleWatchosoperating_system

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware1

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Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

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Social activity8

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