Apple Memory Locking Vulnerability CVE-2025-43510

Historical catalog analysis: CISA added this entry on March 20, 2026. The entry reflects catalog information retrieved on August 31, 2026, not a snapshot archived on the inclusion date. Check current vendor guidance before acting.

What the vulnerability is

CVE-2025-43510 is an improper locking vulnerability (CWE-667) identified across several Apple operating systems. According to CISA, this flaw could allow a malicious application to cause unexpected changes in memory shared between processes. On March 20, 2026, CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, indicating that the flaw is being actively exploited in the wild.

Exposure and applicability

This vulnerability affects a wide array of Apple products, including:
* iOS and iPadOS
* macOS
* watchOS
* visionOS
* tvOS

For U.S. healthcare providers and business associates, this exposure is significant due to the prevalence of iPads for patient intake, iPhones for clinician communication, and Macs for administrative and billing tasks. Because these devices often handle electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI), a compromise of memory shared between processes could potentially impact the integrity or confidentiality of data handled by applications on the device.

Remediation priorities

Our analysis suggests that healthcare security leaders should prioritize remediation based on the device’s role in patient care and its access to ePHI. We recommend the following prioritized actions:

1. Inventory and Update Clinical Mobile Devices: Prioritize updating iOS and iPadOS devices used for bedside charting or patient registration. The primary mitigation is applying vendor-provided updates.
2. Secure Administrative Workstations: Ensure macOS updates are deployed to laptops and desktops used by health plan administrators or billing staff who handle large volumes of sensitive data.
3. Review Application Permissions: While patching addresses the underlying flaw, limiting the installation of non-authorized third-party applications on clinical devices could reduce the likelihood of a malicious app being present to exploit the memory locking issue.

How to validate remediation

To verify that exposure has been reduced, security teams and clinical engineering should employ the following methods:
* Version Verification: Use Mobile Device Management (MDM) tools to generate reports confirming that all managed Apple devices are running versions that include the fix for CVE-2025-43510.
* Compliance Auditing: Cross-reference current device OS versions against the vendor’s list of patched releases to ensure no legacy devices remain vulnerable.

Note: A version check confirms a patch is present but does not guarantee that a device is entirely secure from other threats.

Limits and open questions

While CISA has confirmed active exploitation, it remains unknown whether this vulnerability has been utilized in ransomware campaigns. Furthermore, the specific mechanism by which a malicious application triggers these memory changes—and the full extent of the resulting data access—is not detailed in the available source material. Organizations should be aware that patching reduces the likelihood of exploitation but does not eliminate all residual risks associated with third-party application security.

Source and editorial note

CVE-2025-43510: Apple Multiple Products Improper Locking Vulnerability · Source date: March 20, 2026 · Retrieved August 31, 2026.

Material facts are tied to the cited primary source. Recommendations are independent defensive analysis unless attributed to the source. Confirm consequential decisions against current authoritative guidance.

Archive date: March 23, 2026. The displayed post date is assigned three days after the source date to organize this retrospective archive; it does not mean this site published the analysis then. First published by this site: September 15, 2026 at 01:02 UTC.

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