CVE-2025-31251: Apple iPadOS DoS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-31251 Overview

CVE-2025-31251 is an input validation vulnerability affecting multiple Apple operating systems including macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS. The vulnerability exists in the media file processing functionality, where insufficient input sanitization allows a maliciously crafted media file to cause unexpected application termination or corrupt process memory. This vulnerability requires local access and user interaction to exploit, as the victim must open or process a specially crafted media file.

Critical Impact

Processing a maliciously crafted media file may lead to unexpected app termination or corrupt process memory, potentially enabling information disclosure through confidentiality breach.

Affected Products

• Apple macOS Sequoia (versions prior to 15.5)
• Apple macOS Sonoma (versions prior to 14.7.6)
• Apple macOS Ventura (versions prior to 13.7.6)
• Apple iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 (versions prior to 18.5)
• Apple iPadOS (versions prior to 17.7.7)
• Apple watchOS (versions prior to 11.5)
• Apple tvOS (versions prior to 18.5)
• Apple visionOS (versions prior to 2.5)

Discovery Timeline

• May 12, 2025 - CVE-2025-31251 published to NVD
• November 3, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-31251

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2025-31251 is classified under CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption), indicating that the vulnerability stems from improper handling of resource allocation during media file processing. The flaw allows an attacker to craft a malicious media file that, when processed by the affected system, can lead to application crashes or memory corruption.

The vulnerability requires local access to the target system, meaning an attacker must either have direct access or convince a user to open the malicious media file. The attack complexity is low, requiring no special privileges, though user interaction is necessary for successful exploitation. The primary impact is on confidentiality, as the memory corruption could potentially expose sensitive information stored in process memory.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is insufficient input sanitization in Apple's media processing components. When handling certain media file formats, the affected systems fail to properly validate input data before processing, allowing malformed or malicious content to trigger uncontrolled resource consumption. This leads to either unexpected application termination (denial of service) or corruption of process memory, which could potentially be leveraged for information disclosure.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for CVE-2025-31251 is local, requiring an attacker to deliver a maliciously crafted media file to the target system. The most likely attack scenarios include:

1. Email Attachment Delivery: An attacker sends a malicious media file as an email attachment, enticing the victim to open it
2. Web Download: The victim downloads a malicious media file from a compromised or attacker-controlled website
3. Messaging Applications: Malicious media files shared through messaging platforms that automatically process media content
4. Removable Media: Distribution via USB drives or other removable storage containing the crafted media file

The vulnerability mechanism involves improper input validation during media file parsing. When the media processing component encounters specially crafted data, it fails to properly sanitize the input, resulting in memory corruption or application crash. Technical details regarding specific exploitation methods have not been publicly disclosed.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-31251

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected application crashes when processing media files, particularly in system media frameworks
• Abnormal memory consumption patterns in media processing applications
• Process crashes with memory corruption signatures in system logs
• Unusual media file formats or files with suspicious metadata appearing on the system

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for repeated application crashes related to media processing with crash reports indicating memory issues
• Implement file integrity monitoring for incoming media files with hash comparison against known-good files
• Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of monitoring media file processing behavior
• Review system crash logs for patterns indicating memory corruption during media operations

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable enhanced logging for media framework components across all Apple devices
• Configure SentinelOne Singularity platform to monitor for suspicious media file processing behavior
• Establish baseline metrics for normal media processing resource consumption to identify anomalies
• Implement network traffic analysis to detect delivery of suspicious media files via email or web downloads

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-31251

Immediate Actions Required

• Update all Apple devices to the patched versions: watchOS 11.5, macOS Sonoma 14.7.6, tvOS 18.5, iPadOS 17.7.7, iOS 18.5, iPadOS 18.5, macOS Sequoia 15.5, visionOS 2.5, and macOS Ventura 13.7.6
• Audit managed devices to identify systems running vulnerable OS versions
• Educate users about the risks of opening media files from untrusted sources
• Implement email filtering to scan attachments for potentially malicious media files

Patch Information

Apple has addressed this vulnerability through improved input sanitization in the following releases:

Organizations should prioritize patch deployment through mobile device management (MDM) solutions for managed devices.

Workarounds

• Restrict users from opening media files from unknown or untrusted sources until patches can be applied
• Implement application sandboxing where possible to limit the impact of potential exploitation
• Configure email gateways to quarantine media file attachments for manual review
• Use SentinelOne's application control features to monitor and restrict media file processing on endpoints

# macOS: Check current OS version
sw_vers -productVersion

# iOS/iPadOS: Verify device version via MDM query
# Deploy updates through Apple Business Manager or MDM solution
# Enable automatic updates for managed devices