CVE-2025-46298: Apple Safari DOS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-46298 Overview

CVE-2025-46298 is a memory handling vulnerability affecting Apple Safari and multiple Apple operating systems. Processing maliciously crafted web content may cause an unexpected process crash, resulting in a denial-of-service condition. The flaw is categorized under [CWE-119] (improper restriction of operations within the bounds of a memory buffer) and requires user interaction over a network attack vector. Apple addressed the issue with improved memory handling in Safari 26.2 and the 26.2 releases of iOS, iPadOS, macOS Tahoe, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS.

Critical Impact
A remote attacker can trigger an unexpected process crash in Safari or WebKit-based components by luring a user to a malicious web page, disrupting browser availability across Apple platforms.

Affected Products

Apple Safari (prior to 26.2)
Apple iOS and iPadOS (prior to 26.2)
Apple macOS Tahoe, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS (prior to 26.2)

Discovery Timeline

2026-01-09 - CVE-2025-46298 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-46298

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the memory handling logic used by WebKit, the browser engine underpinning Safari and web content rendering across Apple operating systems. When WebKit parses specially crafted web content, an improper buffer operation causes the rendering process to terminate unexpectedly. The condition maps to [CWE-119], indicating that operations occur outside the intended memory boundaries.

The impact is limited to availability. There is no reported confidentiality or integrity loss associated with this issue, and Apple's fix note states the resolution was achieved through improved memory handling rather than a broader architectural change.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper handling of memory during processing of attacker-controlled web content. WebKit fails to correctly validate or bound a memory operation when parsing the malicious payload, causing the process to crash. Apple has not published detailed information about the specific object, allocator, or parser path involved.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires a user to visit or interact with a page hosting the malicious content. The attacker delivers the crafted payload through any WebKit-rendered surface, including Safari, in-app browsers, and system components that render HTML. No authentication is required, and the attack complexity is low, but user interaction is mandatory. The observable outcome is an unexpected termination of the rendering process.

At the time of publication, no public proof-of-concept exploit, exploit database entry, or CISA KEV listing exists for this CVE. The EPSS probability is 0.316%.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-46298

Indicators of Compromise

Repeated or unexpected crashes of Safari, WebContent, or com.apple.WebKit.WebContent processes on endpoints running versions earlier than 26.2.
Crash reports in ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ referencing WebKit rendering threads and memory faults.
Outbound web requests from managed endpoints to newly observed domains immediately preceding browser crashes.

Detection Strategies

Monitor endpoint telemetry for abnormal termination of WebKit-based processes correlated with browser navigation events.
Ingest macOS and iOS crash diagnostics into a centralized log store and alert on WebKit exception patterns.
Correlate browser process crashes with URL access logs from web proxies to identify potential exploitation attempts.

Monitoring Recommendations

Track deployed versions of Safari, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS across the fleet to identify unpatched endpoints.
Alert when endpoints continue to run pre-26.2 builds after the patch deadline defined by internal policy.
Review MDM compliance reports for devices that have not received the 26.2 update series.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-46298

Immediate Actions Required

Update all Apple endpoints to Safari 26.2, iOS 26.2, iPadOS 26.2, macOS Tahoe 26.2, tvOS 26.2, visionOS 26.2, and watchOS 26.2.
Push the update through mobile device management (MDM) profiles to enforce compliance on managed devices.
Restart affected devices after patching to ensure the updated WebKit framework is loaded by all processes.

Patch Information

Apple published fixes in the 26.2 release train. Refer to the vendor advisories for version-specific guidance: Apple Support Advisory #125884, Apple Support Advisory #125886, Apple Support Advisory #125889, Apple Support Advisory #125890, Apple Support Advisory #125891, and Apple Support Advisory #125892.

Workarounds

Restrict browsing to trusted sites through corporate web filtering until patches are deployed.
Disable JavaScript for untrusted origins where operationally feasible to reduce the parser attack surface.
Educate users to avoid clicking untrusted links, since exploitation requires user interaction.

bash

# Verify installed Safari version on macOS
mdls -name kMDItemVersion /Applications/Safari.app

# Trigger a software update check via MDM or command line
sudo softwareupdate --list
sudo softwareupdate --install --all --restart