CVE-2025-46279: Apple iPadOS Information Disclosure Flaw

CVE-2025-46279 Overview

CVE-2025-46279 is an information disclosure vulnerability affecting multiple Apple operating systems. The flaw stems from a permissions issue that allowed an installed application to identify other apps present on the user device. Apple addressed the weakness by applying additional restrictions on the affected permission check. The issue is categorized under [CWE-200] Information Exposure and requires local app execution on the targeted device.

Critical Impact
A locally installed app could enumerate other installed applications without user consent, enabling targeted profiling, fingerprinting, and reconnaissance for follow-on attacks.

Affected Products

Apple iOS and iPadOS prior to 18.7.3 and prior to 26.2
Apple macOS Tahoe prior to 26.2
Apple tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS prior to 26.2

Discovery Timeline

2025-12-17 - CVE-2025-46279 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2026-10-07 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-46279

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in an Apple platform component that handled permission validation for app-visibility queries. An app running locally could query system interfaces and infer which other applications were installed on the device. The condition requires low privileges and no user interaction, and it affects only confidentiality. Apple's fix tightens the permission model so that the sensitive enumeration data is no longer returned to unprivileged callers.

Root Cause

The root cause is an improper permissions check [CWE-200] that failed to prevent an unprivileged app from accessing data about other installed apps. Apple's advisories describe the remediation as "a permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions," indicating the API or data path has been gated behind stricter authorization logic.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires a malicious or privacy-abusive app to be installed and executed on the device. Once running, the app can call the affected interfaces to enumerate other installed applications. The adversary learns which security tools, banking apps, messaging clients, or targeted software a victim uses. This reconnaissance supports tailored phishing, social engineering, and selection of follow-on exploits.

No verified exploit code is published for this issue. See the Apple advisories for component-level technical details: Apple Support 125884, 125885, 125886, 125889, 125890, and 125891.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-46279

Indicators of Compromise

No public indicators of compromise have been released for CVE-2025-46279.
Apple has not disclosed in-the-wild exploitation, and the CVE is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Detection Strategies

Inventory Apple endpoints via mobile device management (MDM) and flag devices running iOS/iPadOS below 18.7.3 or 26.2, and macOS/tvOS/visionOS/watchOS below 26.2.
Review installed third-party apps for publishers that request broad device-profiling entitlements or exhibit excessive querying of system APIs.
Correlate app telemetry with privacy reports available on iOS and macOS to identify apps that repeatedly probe installed-app metadata.

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor enterprise app catalogs for unsigned, sideloaded, or newly introduced applications on managed Apple devices.
Track MDM compliance reports for OS version drift and alert when devices remain on vulnerable builds beyond patch windows.
Review App Privacy Reports on iOS and iPadOS for anomalous data access patterns from unknown vendors.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-46279

Immediate Actions Required

Update affected devices to iOS 18.7.3, iPadOS 18.7.3, iOS 26.2, iPadOS 26.2, macOS Tahoe 26.2, tvOS 26.2, visionOS 26.2, or watchOS 26.2.
Enforce the minimum patched OS version through MDM compliance policies and block non-compliant devices from corporate resources.
Audit installed applications on managed devices and remove any apps from untrusted publishers.

Patch Information

Apple has released fixes across the affected product lines. Reference the vendor advisories for the exact build numbers and additional CVEs resolved in each release: iOS/iPadOS and macOS Tahoe advisories 125884–125891. Deploy the updates through standard MDM channels or Apple Software Update.

Workarounds

No vendor-supplied workaround exists; patching is the required remediation.
Restrict installation to apps from the Apple App Store and vetted enterprise catalogs to reduce exposure to abusive apps.
Apply managed configuration profiles that limit sideloading and enforce app vetting on supervised devices.

bash

# Example MDM query to list Apple devices below patched builds
# Replace with your MDM vendor's CLI or API syntax
mdm-cli devices list \
  --platform ios,ipados,macos,tvos,visionos,watchos \
  --os-version-less-than "18.7.3,26.2" \
  --output table