watchOS 26 Security Update

What watchOS 26 Fixes

watchOS 26, released September 15, 2025, fixes 24 vulnerabilities in 16 parts of the system, according to Apple's security advisory.

Apple does not say that any of them were exploited before the fix. That makes watchOS 26 a routine security update: worth installing soon, not an emergency.

It has since been superseded: the newest security release for watchOS 26 is watchOS 26.6, from July 27, 2026, which includes these fixes.

Grouped by us from the impact Apple gives for each fix; the impact lines below are Apple's own.

Which Devices Get watchOS 26

Apple lists watchOS 26 for: Apple Watch Series 6 and later.

How to Install watchOS 26

Open the Watch app on the paired iPhone, then General → Software Update. The watch needs to be on its charger and within range of the iPhone.

Security fixes are cumulative: any later release for the same version includes these as well, so if you are already past watchOS 26 there is nothing to do.

Every Fix in watchOS 26

All 24 CVEs in Apple's advisory, the most serious kinds first. Each entry is the part of the system affected, Apple's description of the impact and the fix, and the CVE ID.

• Audio

  A malicious app may be able to read kernel memory

  An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved bounds checking.

  CVE-2025-43361

• Sandbox

  An app may be able to break out of its sandbox

  A permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions.

  CVE-2025-43329

• AppleMobileFileIntegrity

  An app may be able to access sensitive user data

  A permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions.

  CVE-2025-43317

• Bluetooth

  An app may be able to access sensitive user data

  A logging issue was addressed with improved data redaction.

  CVE-2025-43354 CVE-2025-43303

• IOKit

  An app may be able to access sensitive user data

  An authorization issue was addressed with improved state management.

  CVE-2025-31255

• Kernel

  An app may be able to access sensitive user data

  A correctness issue was addressed with improved checks.

  CVE-2025-43345

• Spell Check

  An app may be able to access sensitive user data

  A parsing issue in the handling of directory paths was addressed with improved path validation.

  CVE-2025-43190

• WebKit

  A remote attacker may be able to view leaked DNS queries with Private Relay turned on

  A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.

  CVE-2025-43376

• Apple Neural Engine

  An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination

  An out-of-bounds access issue was addressed with improved bounds checking.

  CVE-2025-43344

• Audio

  Processing a maliciously crafted media file may lead to unexpected app termination or corrupt process memory

  An out-of-bounds access issue was addressed with improved bounds checking.

  CVE-2025-43346

• CoreAudio

  Processing a maliciously crafted video file may lead to unexpected app termination

  An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved input validation.

  CVE-2025-43349

• CoreMedia

  Processing a maliciously crafted media file may lead to unexpected app termination or corrupt process memory

  The issue was addressed with improved input validation.

  CVE-2025-43372

• IOHIDFamily

  An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination

  An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking.

  CVE-2025-43302

• MobileStorageMounter

  An app may be able to cause a denial-of-service

  A type confusion issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

  CVE-2025-43355

• SQLite

  Processing a file may lead to memory corruption

  This is a vulnerability in open source code and Apple Software is among the affected projects. The CVE-ID was assigned by a third party. Learn more about the issue and CVE-ID at cve.org .

  CVE-2025-6965

• WebKit

  Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to an unexpected Safari crash

  The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

  CVE-2025-43272

• WebKit

  Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to an unexpected process crash

  The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

  CVE-2025-43343

• WebKit

  Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to an unexpected process crash

  A correctness issue was addressed with improved checks.

  CVE-2025-43342

• WebKit

  Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to memory corruption

  The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

  CVE-2025-43419

• CloudKit

  An app may be able to fingerprint the user

  This issue was addressed with additional entitlement checks.

  CVE-2025-43323

• Kernel

  A UDP server socket bound to a local interface may become bound to all interfaces

  A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.

  CVE-2025-43359

• System

  An input validation issue was addressed

  This issue was addressed by removing the vulnerable code.

  CVE-2025-43347

• WebKit

  A website may be able to access sensor information without user consent

  The issue was addressed with improved handling of caches.

  CVE-2025-43356

watchOS 26 Security Release History

watchOS 26 in context: the security releases Apple has published for watchOS 26, newest first, with the number of fixes each carried.

The Same Fixes Elsewhere

Apple ships most fixes to every platform that shares the code, and to older versions still under support. These releases close at least one of the same CVEs:

Frequently Asked Questions