Apple released a security report about potential flaws in the security of iPhones, iPads and Mac computers. Read on to see if your device is affected and what action you should take.
What devices are affected?
On 17 August 2022, Apple put out two security reports on its website. The reports related to issues with all models of the iPad Pro as well as the iPad Air 2a, iPad 5th generation, iPad mini 4 and later models of all of these devices. In addition, the iPhone 6s onwards and the 7th generation iPod touch have the vulnerability. All Mac computers running macOS Monterey are also susceptible to the flaw.
What are the issues?
Apple reported that the security flaws meant that an application “may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.” This means that a hacker exploiting the flaw could run any command that they wanted to on a vulnerable system. In addition, Apple confirmed that it had received a report that this issue may have been actively exploited. This implies that the flaw was discovered after someone’s system had been hacked. However, Apple didn’t give any details as to who had been affected, stating that the vulnerabilities were discovered by an anonymous researcher
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What should you do?
Apple confirmed that it doesn’t disclose security issues it has investigated until a patch or update is available. This is to reduce the opportunities for others to exploit the flaws. Therefore, if you have an iPhone, iPad or Mac computer, you should immediately make sure that you have updated your software. The latest version of iOS and iPadOS is 15.6.1, and the latest version of macOS is 12.5.1. The updates to these versions are available free of charge from Apple’s website.