CVE-2026-86961 — A race condition was addressed with additional validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 27 and...
A race condition was addressed with additional validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27. A malicious app may be able to break out of its sandbox.
Who exploits it and how urgent it is
A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.
How the score was calculated
- EPSS 0.1% (30-day exploitation probability)+0
- Technical severity (high)+6
The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.
CISA SSVC assessment CISA
Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.
Remediation
Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.
No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.
First 24 hours
Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.
- Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Apple iOS and iPadOS, Apple Macos).
- No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
- Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (logic error), errors and authentication anomalies.
Affected scope
Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | iOS and iPadOS | < 27 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
| Apple | Macos | < 27 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
Attack characteristics
The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.8 | CVSS 3.1 | High | 1.1 | 6.0 | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 via NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| 7.8 | CVSS 3.1 | High | — | — | GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories |
| 7.8 | CVSS 3.1 | High | — | — | CISA-ADP via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0) Weakness MITRE
Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.
EPSS over time FIRST
Oct 20, 2026 → Oct 27, 2026 · 8 reading(s) · max 0.14%
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.
- Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
Timeline
What happened to this CVE, newest first.
- 2026
- Source status changed · Received → Awaiting Analysis
- SSVC assessment updated
- CVSS changed · 7.8
- Record published
- Affected products added · apple/ios and ipados, apple/macos
- Source status changed · → Received
- Record created in this database
- CVE published
Source activity
Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.
- 2× References added · Oct 19, 2026 – Oct 21, 2026
- 1× Official description updated · Oct 19, 2026 – Oct 19, 2026
References
4 on the record
Elsewhere on this site
Related CVEs (same products)
- Unknown CVE-2026-86991 A buffer overflow was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.7.2... 1d
- Unknown CVE-2026-86992 The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in iOS 26.7.2 and... 1d
- Unknown CVE-2026-86988 The issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in iOS 27.2 and iPadOS 27.2,... 1d
- Unknown CVE-2026-86990 An access issue was addressed with improved access restrictions. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.7... 1d
- Unknown CVE-2026-86989 An authorization issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in iOS... 1d
- Unknown CVE-2026-86986 A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is… 1d
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.
Answered from this record
Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.
What should defenders know first?
CVE-2026-86961 is "A race condition was addressed with additional validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 27 and...", rated High. It affects iOS and iPadOS (Apple); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 7.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.10% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.
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