Apple releases emergency iOS and macOS updates to patch nasty security hole

Apple recommends iPhone and Mac owners update their devices immediately

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Applehas published a pair of “important” updates for iOS and macOS that address a nasty security issue that could put devices at risk.

iOS 14.4.1 and macOS 11.2.3 contain fixes for a vulnerability in WebKit, the engine that props upSafariand other iOSbrowsers. Identified by researchers at Google and Microsoft, the bug could be exploited by hackers to execute code on target devices.

Given the potential for abuse, Apple has recommended owners of itssmartphones,tabletsandPCsinstall the updates immediately.

iOS and macOS security update

Although Apple provided little information in the release notes, which simply state that the new versions “provide important security updates and are recommended for all users”, the company’s website sheds a little more light.

The bug is described as a “memory corruption issue” that has been “addressed with improved validation”. If the problem is not addressed, says Apple, cybercriminals could use “maliciously crafted web content” to perform remote code execution on affected devices.

The vulnerability (CVE-2021-1844) has been handed a high severity rating of 7.7/10, by the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).

The iOS update is available for iPhone 6 models and newer, iPad Air 2 and newer, iPad mini 4 and newer, and iPod touch (7th generation). And theMacupdate is available for macOS Big Sur.

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If the update has not been deployed automatically, iOS users can perform a manual install by navigating to Settings > General and then selecting Software Update.

Mac owners, meanwhile, will need to find their way to the System Preferences panel via the Apple menu, and then click Software Update.

Via9to5Mac

Joel Khalili is the News and Features Editor at TechRadar Pro, covering cybersecurity, data privacy, cloud, AI, blockchain, internet infrastructure, 5G, data storage and computing. He’s responsible for curating our news content, as well as commissioning and producing features on the technologies that are transforming the way the world does business.

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