Apple Releases iOS 18.6.2 Update for iPhone With ‘Important’ Fix for Zero-Day Vulnerability

Apple on Wednesday rolled out the iOS 18.6.2 update for iPhone. It arrives almost a week after the release of the iOS 18.6.1 update, which added back blood oxygen monitoring to the Apple Watch for users in the US. According to the Cupertino-based tech giant, the latest firmware addresses a security issue that remained undiscovered in previous iterations. The update has been released for iPhone XS and later models.

iOS 18.6.2 Update: What's New

Apple's release notes for the iOS 18.6.2 update state, “This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.” It is approximately 855MB in size. A company support page document further details which zero-day vulnerability has been patched.

A vulnerability with CVE-2025-43300 as its identifier was addressed, according to Apple. It is said to be an out-of-bounds issue that occurred when processing a malicious file, and this could have led to memory corruption.

While the company said that the issue has been rectified with improved bounds checking following the iOS 18.6.2 update, it may have already been exploited to carry out a sophisticated attack.

“Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals”, the Cupertino-based tech giant said in a statement.

Notably, Apple does not disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until an investigation has occurred and patches or releases are available, to ensure customers' protection. Thus, the iOS 18.6.2 update has been released after a successful investigation of the zero-day vulnerability. It is available for iPhone XS and later models.

Alongside the iPhone, a similar iPadOS 18.6.2 update has also been released for the iPad, addressing the same vulnerability. Further, users with the following iPad models are also eligible to receive the patch:

1. iPad Pro 13-inch
2. iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later
3. iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later
4. iPad Air 3rd generation and later
5. iPad 7th generation and later
6. iPad mini 5th generation and later

Therefore, users with compatible iPhone and iPad models are advised to update to iOS 18.6.2 and iPadOS 18.6.2 firmware, respectively. To install the update on your iPhone, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, and tap on General > Software Update > Install Now.