CVE-2025-43210: Apple Media Processing Buffer Overflow

CVE-2025-43210 Overview

CVE-2025-43210 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability (CWE-125) affecting Apple's media file processing across multiple operating systems. The vulnerability exists in the media parsing functionality and can be triggered when a user opens a maliciously crafted media file. Successful exploitation could lead to unexpected application termination or corrupt process memory, potentially enabling information disclosure or denial of service conditions.

Critical Impact

Processing a maliciously crafted media file may lead to unexpected app termination or corrupt process memory, affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of Apple devices.

Affected Products

• iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6
• iPadOS 17.7.9
• macOS Sequoia 15.6
• macOS Sonoma 14.7.7
• macOS Ventura 13.7.7
• tvOS 18.6
• visionOS 2.6
• watchOS 11.6

Discovery Timeline

• April 2, 2026 - CVE-2025-43210 published to NVD
• April 2, 2026 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-43210

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from inadequate bounds checking during media file processing in Apple's operating systems. When parsing certain elements within a media file, the affected code fails to properly validate array indices or buffer boundaries before accessing memory. This out-of-bounds read condition allows an attacker to potentially read memory beyond the intended buffer boundaries.

The vulnerability requires user interaction—specifically, a victim must open or process a maliciously crafted media file. This could occur through various attack vectors including malicious email attachments, compromised websites serving crafted media content, or through messaging applications that automatically preview media files.

The impact extends across the Apple ecosystem, affecting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS platforms. Apple addressed this vulnerability by implementing improved bounds checking in the media parsing routines.

Root Cause

The root cause is an out-of-bounds read condition (CWE-125) in the media file processing component. The vulnerable code path fails to validate that array indices or memory offsets remain within the allocated buffer boundaries when parsing media file structures. This insufficient validation allows read operations to access memory locations outside the intended data structure.

Attack Vector

The attack requires network-based delivery of a malicious media file to a target device, combined with user interaction to trigger the vulnerability. Attack scenarios include:

• Sending crafted media files via email or messaging applications
• Hosting malicious media content on compromised or attacker-controlled websites
• Distributing malformed media files through file-sharing services
• Embedding crafted media in documents or web pages that auto-load content

When the victim's device processes the malicious media file, the out-of-bounds read is triggered, potentially causing application crashes or memory corruption that could leak sensitive data from process memory.

The vulnerability exists in the media parsing logic. When a specially crafted media file is processed, the parser attempts to read data beyond allocated buffer boundaries. Apple's fix implements proper bounds validation before memory access operations. For full technical details, refer to Apple Security Advisory #124147.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-43210

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected application crashes when opening media files, particularly in Safari, Photos, QuickTime, or other media-handling applications
• Crash reports indicating memory access violations in media parsing components
• Unusual media files with malformed headers or non-standard structure received from untrusted sources
• Memory corruption error logs in system diagnostics

Detection Strategies

• Monitor system crash logs for patterns indicating out-of-bounds read conditions in media processing frameworks
• Implement endpoint detection rules to flag applications crashing immediately after opening media files from external sources
• Deploy network-level inspection to identify potentially malformed media files being delivered to endpoints
• Review application stability reports for unusual patterns of media-related crashes across the fleet

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable extended crash reporting on managed devices to capture detailed diagnostic information
• Configure alerting for repeated application terminations in media-handling processes
• Monitor for unusual volumes of media files being received from unknown or untrusted sources
• Implement SentinelOne's behavioral AI to detect anomalous process behavior during media file processing

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-43210

Immediate Actions Required

• Update all Apple devices to the latest patched versions immediately (iOS 18.6, iPadOS 18.6/17.7.9, macOS Sequoia 15.6, macOS Sonoma 14.7.7, macOS Ventura 13.7.7, tvOS 18.6, visionOS 2.6, watchOS 11.6)
• Advise users to avoid opening media files from untrusted or unknown sources until patches are applied
• Enable automatic updates on all managed Apple devices to ensure timely patch deployment
• Review and restrict media file handling permissions in enterprise MDM configurations

Patch Information

Apple has released security updates addressing this vulnerability across all affected platforms. Organizations should prioritize deployment of the following versions:

Workarounds

• Configure email gateways to quarantine or strip media file attachments from untrusted sources pending patch deployment
• Implement web filtering to block downloads of media files from untrusted domains
• Use MDM policies to restrict which applications can process media files on managed devices
• Disable automatic media preview features in email clients and messaging applications where possible

# Example: Check macOS version to verify patch status
sw_vers -productVersion
# Expected output for patched systems: 15.6, 14.7.7, or 13.7.7

# Example: Check iOS/iPadOS version via MDM query
# Ensure devices report version 18.6 or 17.7.9