Apple Releases Security Update for Zero-Day Vulnerability in iPhones, Macs

Apple has rolled out essential software updates to tackle multiple security vulnerabilities across its product lineup, including a significant zero-day vulnerability that attackers have reportedly exploited.

This vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-24085, poses a risk by allowing a malicious application already installed on a device to elevate its privileges.

Details of the Vulnerability

In an official advisory, Apple acknowledged that reports indicate this issue may have affected versions of iOS prior to iOS 17.2. To address this critical issue, Apple has implemented improved memory management in the following devices and operating system versions:

iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3: This update affects iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro (13-inch, 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, 11-inch 1st generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad (7th generation and later), and iPad mini (5th generation and later).
macOS Sequoia 15.3: This update applies to all Macs running macOS Sequoia.
tvOS 18.3: This update impacts all models of Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K.
visionOS 2.3: This update is relevant for Apple Vision Pro users.
watchOS 11.3: This update affects Apple Watch Series 6 and later.

As is common with such vulnerabilities, specific details regarding how attackers executed the exploit in real-world scenarios remain undisclosed. Apple has not yet credited any external security researchers for discovering this vulnerability, suggesting that its internal security teams may have identified it.

Additional Security Flaws Addressed

In addition to addressing the zero-day vulnerability, the updates also resolve five security flaws in AirPlay, which Oligo Security researcher Uri Katz reported. These flaws could allow attackers to cause unexpected system terminations, denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, or arbitrary code execution under certain conditions.

Furthermore, Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) discovered and reported three vulnerabilities in the CoreAudio component (CVE-2025-24160, CVE-2025-24161, and CVE-2025-24163). These vulnerabilities may lead to unexpected app terminations when processing specially crafted files.