Release appearance
macOS 26.3 Public
Recorded context
About this appearance
macOS Tahoe 26.3 reached the public channel on 2026-02-11. macOS Tahoe 26.3 was a maintenance release that Apple described as providing important bug fixes and security updates rather than a named consumer feature set.
- Date
- Feb 11, 2026
- Availability
- available
- Revision
- No
Release notes
What changed
Original editorial synthesis. Linked references appear with the claims they support and in the source ledger.
Public release
Apple's dated security record places the public macOS Tahoe 26.3 appearance on 2026-02-11. This page covers that public release and does not project cumulative notes onto an earlier beta.[1][2]
What changed
macOS Tahoe 26.3 was a maintenance release that Apple described as providing important bug fixes and security updates rather than a named consumer feature set.[2]
Security and evidence boundary
Apple's detailed advisory spans access control, privilege boundaries, media and file parsing, networking, privacy, sandboxing, and web components. The dyld exploitation note refers to targeted attacks on versions of iOS before iOS 26, not to a confirmed macOS 26.3 compromise.[3]
Source ledger
References
Sources are linked to the claims they support. Publication and access dates are shown when available.
- About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · macOS Tahoe 26.3 — Released 2026-02-11
- What's new in the updates for macOS Tahoe 26
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-29 · macOS Tahoe 26.3
- About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · macOS Tahoe 26.3 — security content
- About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · Bluetooth, CFNetwork, and Kernel entries
- About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · CoreAudio, GPU Drivers, ImageIO, libexpat, and Model I/O entries
- About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · CoreServices, Remote Management, Security, Setup Assistant, and Sandbox entries
- About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · dyld — CVE-2026-20700
- About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · Foundation, Focus, Game Center, Messages, and Notification Center entries
- About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · Mail, Safari, Sandbox, and Screen Time entries
Release changes
Changed in this release
Features, fixes, removals, and regressions first observed in this release record.
security · fixed
Media and file-processing safety
Bounds, memory, and validation work covered ImageIO, Model I/O, CoreAudio, libexpat, GPU drivers, and other crafted-file paths.
- [1] About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3 · CoreAudio, GPU Drivers, ImageIO, libexpat, and Model I/O entries
bugFix · fixed
Important maintenance fixes
Apple classified 26.3 as an important bug-fix release but did not publish a more granular consumer-facing defect list.
- [1] What's new in the updates for macOS Tahoe 26 · macOS Tahoe 26.3
security · fixed
Privilege and access-control repairs
The advisory documents root-privilege, sandbox-escape, protected-data, and authorization fixes across CoreServices, Remote Management, Security, Setup Assistant, and related frameworks.
- [1] About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3 · CoreServices, Remote Management, Security, Setup Assistant, and Sandbox entries
security · fixed
dyld memory-corruption repair
Apple fixed a dyld memory-corruption path and said the underlying issue may have been used in a highly targeted attack on versions of iOS before iOS 26; the advisory does not say macOS 26.3 was exploited.
- [1] About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3 · dyld — CVE-2026-20700
security · fixed
Foundation and privacy protections
Apple repaired Foundation paths that could expose sensitive data, monitor keystrokes without permission, or access protected information, together with logging and temporary-file privacy issues.
- [1] About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3 · Foundation, Focus, Game Center, Messages, and Notification Center entries
security · fixed
Mail, Safari, and sandbox protections
Apple corrected remote-content handling in Mail, Safari history access, sandbox permissions, Screen Time access controls, and related sensitive-data paths.
- [1] About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3 · Mail, Safari, Sandbox, and Screen Time entries
security · fixed
Network and kernel hardening
The release addressed crafted Bluetooth denial of service, arbitrary-file writing through CFNetwork, kernel traffic interception, and kernel memory or stability problems.
- [1] About the security content of macOS Tahoe 26.3 · Bluetooth, CFNetwork, and Kernel entries