Persistent denial of service via mail header parsing
Published Dec 12, 2025 · Updated Dec 12, 2025
Mail header parsing in Apple Mail across affected Apple operating systems allows remote attackers to cause persistent denial of service. Apple states that Mail performs insufficient checks while parsing message headers but has not disclosed the malformed header condition or affected parser routine. Network access without authentication or user interaction is sufficient; the documented consequence is persistent service interruption, with no disclosed crash or recovery behavior.
Summary
What happened
Mail header parsing in Apple Mail across affected Apple operating systems allows remote attackers to cause persistent denial of service. Apple states that Mail performs insufficient checks while parsing message headers but has not disclosed the malformed header condition or affected parser routine. Network access without authentication or user interaction is sufficient; the documented consequence is persistent service interruption, with no disclosed crash or recovery behavior.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-43494
- Published
- Dec 12, 2025
- Updated
- Dec 12, 2025
- Vendor
- Apple
- Product
- iOS and iPadOS
- Classifications
- CWE-20, T1499.004, T1642
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 12, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Dec 12, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=unspecified <18.7
- Affected versionversion=unspecified <26.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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