CVE-2025-43323: Apple iPadOS Information Disclosure Flaw

CVE-2025-43323 Overview

CVE-2025-43323 is an information disclosure vulnerability affecting multiple Apple operating systems. The flaw stems from insufficient entitlement checks, allowing an installed application to fingerprint the user. Apple addressed the issue by adding additional entitlement validation in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, and watchOS 26. The vulnerability is classified as [CWE-200] Information Exposure and carries a CVSS score of 8.1.

Critical Impact

A malicious application installed on an affected Apple device can bypass privacy controls to uniquely fingerprint the user, enabling cross-app tracking and persistent identity correlation without user consent.

Affected Products

• Apple iOS and iPadOS (versions prior to 26)
• Apple macOS Tahoe (versions prior to 26), tvOS (versions prior to 26)
• Apple visionOS (versions prior to 26) and watchOS (versions prior to 26)

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-11-04 - CVE-2025-43323 published to NVD
• 2026-04-02 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-43323

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in an Apple operating system component that did not adequately verify the entitlements of calling applications. Entitlements are signed capability tokens that grant apps access to protected system resources, including identifiers that could be used to track users. Without strict enforcement, an app without the required entitlement could access information typically reserved for privileged system processes.

The issue allows a malicious app to gather unique identifiers or system attributes sufficient to construct a stable fingerprint of the user. This bypasses Apple's privacy controls intended to limit cross-app tracking. The flaw maps to [CWE-200] Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor.

Root Cause

The component failed to validate whether the requesting process held the required entitlement before returning sensitive data. Apple's remediation introduced additional entitlement checks to gate access to the protected functionality. Prior to the fix, applications could query the affected interface without proving they were authorized.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires a malicious application to be installed and executed on the target device. The attack vector is classified as network with user interaction required, reflecting that an attacker must convince a victim to install and run a crafted app. Once running, the app silently retrieves the identifying data and can transmit it to an attacker-controlled server. No additional privilege escalation is required to perform the fingerprinting.

No public proof-of-concept or exploit code is available, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The vulnerability mechanism is documented in the Apple Support advisory for iOS 26 and iPadOS 26.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-43323

Indicators of Compromise

• Applications making unexpected calls to system identifier or device-attribute APIs without holding declared entitlements for those APIs.
• Outbound network traffic from third-party apps containing device-unique attributes such as hardware identifiers, serial-like values, or composite fingerprints.
• Installed apps requesting elevated entitlements during code signing review that do not match their stated functionality.

Detection Strategies

• Audit installed application bundles for entitlement declarations that exceed the app's stated purpose using codesign -d --entitlements on macOS.
• Inspect Mobile Device Management (MDM) inventory data for apps installed outside approved distribution channels on managed iOS, iPadOS, and macOS endpoints.
• Monitor network egress for telemetry beacons originating from non-system processes that include stable device identifiers.

Monitoring Recommendations

• Track OS version compliance across the fleet and flag devices running pre-26 versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, or watchOS.
• Enable unified logging review on macOS to detect repeated entitlement-related authorization events from unsigned or third-party processes.
• Correlate application install events with subsequent outbound connections to previously unseen domains.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-43323

Immediate Actions Required

• Update all Apple devices to iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, or watchOS 26 as applicable.
• Restrict application installation to the official App Store and approved enterprise distribution channels via MDM policy.
• Review installed third-party applications and remove any with excessive or unjustified entitlement requests.

Patch Information

Apple released fixes across its operating system lineup. Refer to the official advisories for build numbers and update instructions: iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, and watchOS 26. The patches add the missing entitlement checks to the affected component.

Workarounds

• Where immediate patching is not possible, limit device exposure by avoiding installation of untrusted applications and sideloaded profiles.
• Use MDM configuration profiles to enforce an allowlist of approved applications on managed devices.
• Disable or remove applications from unknown developers until the operating system update has been applied.

# Verify macOS version and inspect app entitlements
sw_vers -productVersion
codesign -d --entitlements :- /Applications/SuspectApp.app