Null pointer dereference DoS in Apple mDNSResponder
CVE-2026-28985 is a null pointer dereference vulnerability in Apple's mDNSResponder component. Apple states the issue was addressed with improved input validation. The flaw affects Apple platforms including iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5, macOS Tahoe 26.5, and tvOS 26.5, with the tvOS advisory explicitly associating the issue with mDNSResponder on Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K models. Successful triggering can cause the vulnerable process or system component to dereference a null pointer and terminate, resulting in a denial-of-service condition.
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.
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.
Mitigation
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
Remediation
Patch, then assume compromise.
Exploits
No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.
No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.
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.
Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
Recent activity
8 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A local network denial-of-service vulnerability affecting mDNSResponder.
A null pointer dereference vulnerability in macOS Tahoe that may allow an attacker on the local network to cause a denial-of-service.
A null pointer dereference vulnerability in Apple TV software that could allow a local-network attacker to cause denial of service.
A null pointer dereference vulnerability that could allow a local network attacker to cause denial-of-service.
The version that knows your environment.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.