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CVE-2026-20685 is a path traversal vulnerability in Apple Private Cloud Compute (PCC) affecting the root-privileged darwin-init early boot process. During PCC node initialization, darwin-init downloads and extracts installation content before the system transitions into its normal operating environment. The vulnerable path handling allowed archive entry names containing traversal sequences to escape the intended extraction directory because paths were appended without sufficient validation. As a result, a crafted archive could write attacker-controlled files to persistent locations on the writable data volume during boot. Research demonstrated that this file-write capability could be used to alter runtime behavior of PCC services, including logging configuration, and redirect sensitive inference-related telemetry outside the intended trust boundary. Apple states that exploitation requires an attacker in a privileged network position and that the issue was addressed through improved path validation in PCC Release 5E290.3.
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A path traversal vulnerability in Apple Private Cloud Compute's darwin-init process that can allow root-level file writes during node boot, enabling persistence of attacker-controlled files and exposure or redirection of sensitive AI inference telemetry.
A path traversal vulnerability in Apple's Private Cloud Compute environment, specifically in the darwin-init routine, that can leak inference telemetry data from a PCC server to an attacker-controlled server.
A vulnerability identified as CVE-2026-20685 affecting Apple's Private Cloud Compute, which underpins Apple Intelligence inference and privacy-related cloud processing.
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Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
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