Executive brief
A security vulnerability in Apple operating systems could allow a malicious application to bypass its security sandbox. This sandbox is designed to isolate apps and prevent them from accessing sensitive system data or files belonging to other applications. If exploited, a rogue app could gain unauthorized access to parts of the device it should not be able to reach.
Technical details
A path validation vulnerability exists in the directory path parsing component of multiple Apple operating systems, including iOS, macOS, and tvOS. The root cause is insufficient validation of directory paths during parsing, which can be leveraged by a malicious application to perform a sandbox escape. By providing specially crafted paths, an attacker-controlled app can bypass filesystem restrictions to access data outside of its designated container. Apple has addressed this issue by improving path validation logic in the latest OS updates.
Affected products
- Apple iOS and iPadOS < 26.6
- Apple macOS Sequoia < 15.7.8
- Apple macOS Sonoma < 14.8.8
- Apple macOS Tahoe < 26.6
- Apple tvOS < 26.6
Timeline
- 2026-07-27: disclosed
- 2026-07-27: patched