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Mallory
MediumPublic exploit

IOHIDFamily memory corruption leading to app termination

IdentifiersCVE-2026-28992CWE-362· Concurrent Execution using Shared…

CVE-2026-28992 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Apple's IOHIDFamily component. Apple states the issue was addressed with improved locking, indicating a concurrency/locking flaw that could lead to memory corruption during IOHIDFamily operations. The vendor describes the resulting impact as unexpected app termination. The issue was 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, visionOS 26.5, and watchOS 26.5. Apple credits Johnny Franks (@zeroxjf).

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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.

Successful exploitation may allow an attacker to trigger memory corruption in IOHIDFamily and cause unexpected termination of the affected application, resulting in a denial-of-service condition at the application level. No evidence is provided in the supplied content for code execution, privilege escalation, or data disclosure.

Mitigation

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

If immediate patching is not possible, mitigation information is not specifically provided in the supplied content. Practical interim reduction would be limited to minimizing exposure to untrusted inputs and untrusted applications that can interact with the affected IOHIDFamily attack surface, but Apple has not provided a documented workaround in the supplied material.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Apply the vendor fixes provided by Apple. According to the supplied advisory content, the 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, visionOS 26.5, and watchOS 26.5.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos.

VALID 1 / 1 TOTALView more in app
CVE-2026-28992-IOHIDFamily-FastPathUserClient-Race-ConditionsMaturityPoCVerified exploit

Repository contains two standalone Xcode iOS application PoCs targeting CVE-2026-28992 in Apple IOHIDFamily, specifically IOHIDEventServiceFastPathUserClient. It is not part of an exploit framework. The repo structure is split into two app projects: UAFPoc/ for a kernel use-after-free/copyEvent race and AOPPanicPoc/ for an AOP/SPU panic via termination race and mailbox saturation. Most files are standard Xcode scaffolding (AppDelegate, SceneDelegate, storyboards, plist, assets); the substantive exploit logic is concentrated in AOPPanicPoc/AOPPanicPoc/ViewController.m, while README.md and report.txt document both bugs in detail. Core capability: from a normal sandboxed iOS app with no special entitlements, the code dynamically uses IOKit APIs to locate/open IOHIDEventService with IOServiceOpen(..., type=2), creating IOHIDEventServiceFastPathUserClient connections. The exploit abuses an authorization bypass by supplying XML properties FastPathHasEntitlement and FastPathMotionEventEntitlement to selector 0 (open), which the vulnerable gate incorrectly trusts. After bypassing the gate, the PoCs create high-frequency connection lifecycle races using IOConnectCallMethod selector 0/1 and mach_port_destroy or mach_port_destruct to trigger asynchronous teardown paths. The documented UAF vector uses multiple connections to the same provider so that close/terminate frees provider-side objects while concurrent open/copyEvent activity iterates shared collections under inconsistent locking, producing a kernel UAF and panic/reboot. The AOP panic vector repeatedly opens and destroys gated connections to SPU-backed providers, saturating the outbox and causing an AOP firmware assertion and device reboot. No remote C2, network scanning, or external callback infrastructure is present; this is a local denial-of-service/kernel crash PoC rather than a code-execution implant. The exploit appears to be proof-of-concept quality: reliable enough to reproduce crashes on listed test devices, but focused on panic/reboot rather than privilege escalation or a post-exploitation payload.

zeroxjfDisclosed Feb 14, 2026objective-cxmllocal
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
AppleIosoperating_system
AppleIpadosoperating_system
AppleIphone Osoperating_system
AppleMacosoperating_system
AppleTvosoperating_system
AppleVisionosoperating_system
AppleWatchosoperating_system

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

What this page doesn’t show

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Social activity6

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