What is CVE-2026-86981?

CVE-2026-86981 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple macOS, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-10-20.

How severe is CVE-2026-86981?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.

Buffer overflow in Apple macOS

CVE-2026-86981

An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.8, macOS Tahoe 26.7. An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published 2026-10-20 · last modified 2026-10-20.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

No EPSS score from FIRST.org yet. New CVEs usually get one within a few days; no score means no signal yet, not low risk. How EPSS works.

Affected products

Apple macOS

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-787 — Out-of-bounds Write

References

support.apple.com/en-us/149042
support.apple.com/en-us/149043

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-86981?: CVE-2026-86981 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple macOS, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-10-20.
How severe is CVE-2026-86981?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.