CVE-2020-9859

Apple's iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS suffered a kernel privilege escalation vulnerability allowing arbitrary code execution.

A kernel-level vulnerability in Apple's operating systems allowed applications to execute code with elevated privileges, enabling remote code execution. DIB organizations must ensure all Apple devices are patched immediately, as this flaw was actively exploited in the wild and represents a severe breach of the principle of least privilege. Failure to patch exposes systems to malware, ransomware, and data exfiltration, directly impacting CMMC/NIST 800-171 compliance requirements for system integrity and access control.

Shame score — A kernel privilege escalation flaw in widely deployed consumer and enterprise operating systems that was actively exploited in the wild, demonstrating a critical failure in patch management and system hardening.