---
title: "CVE-2026-86881: Apple - Authentication Bypass"
description: "Apple iOS 26.7, iPadOS 26.7, iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, and watchOS 27 contain a certificate validation bypass caused by improper validation of intermediate certificate authorities, letting attackers with compromised intermediate CAs issue certificates with arbitrary extended key usages, exploit requires compromised intermediate CA."
url: https://panop.io/threat-heartbeat/CVE-2026-86881/
---

# CVE-2026-86881 Apple - Authentication Bypass

Apple iOS 26.7, iPadOS 26.7, iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, and watchOS 27 contain a certificate validation bypass caused by improper validation of intermediate certificate authorities, letting attackers with compromised intermediate CAs issue certificates with arbitrary extended key usages, exploit requires compromised intermediate CA.

CVSS base score 9.1 /10

Critical

CISA KEV

Not listed

Public exploit

Proof of concept available

EPSS

0.40% chance of exploitation in 30 days

[View the NVD record ↗](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-86881)

## Details

Type

Authentication Bypass

Impact

Man In The Middle

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Published

14 September 2026

Updated

15 October 2026

Weakness

[CWE-295](https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/295.html)

## Vendor fix

Update to iOS 26.7, iPadOS 26.7, iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27, macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, and watchOS 27

Patching closes this CVE. It does not tell you which of your systems run the affected version, or what else is exposed alongside them.

## References

- [https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-86881](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-86881)
- [https://support.apple.com/en-us/149034](https://support.apple.com/en-us/149034)
- [https://support.apple.com/en-us/149035](https://support.apple.com/en-us/149035)
- [https://support.apple.com/en-us/149036](https://support.apple.com/en-us/149036)
- [https://support.apple.com/en-us/149037](https://support.apple.com/en-us/149037)
- [https://support.apple.com/en-us/149038](https://support.apple.com/en-us/149038)
- [https://support.apple.com/en-us/149041](https://support.apple.com/en-us/149041)
- [https://support.apple.com/en-us/149042](https://support.apple.com/en-us/149042)
- [https://support.apple.com/en-us/149043](https://support.apple.com/en-us/149043)

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## What this record can't tell you

- Whether you run the affected software, and where
- Whether an attacker can actually reach and exploit it
- The misconfigurations that never get a CVE number
- What it would cost the business, ranked into what to fix first

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