There's also an update for Apple's Safari browser on Macs running the Big Sur and Catalina versions of MacOS.

And that's been fixed?īoth issues were addressed in the new update, Apple's update page said. NSO Group's spyware is known to have been used in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America against journalists, dissidents and human rights activists. That would allow intruders to impersonate the device's owner and subsequently run any software in their name, SocialProof Security chief Rachel Tobac said.Ĭommercial spyware companies such as Israel's NSO Group are known for identifying and taking advantage of such flaws, exploiting them in malware that secretly infects targets' smartphones, siphons their contents and surveils the targets in real time. What does that mean?Īpple's explanation of the vulnerability means a hacker could get 'full admin access' to the device. The website noted issues with two parts of Apple's software - the kernel at the heart of iOS and the web browser engine, WebKit - that could lead to 'arbitrary code execution'. The company released a surprise round of updates on Wednesday and Thursday, not long before the next big software release - iOS 16, which was expected some time next month.įorbes tech writer David Phelan said the 'wholly unexpected' timing of the update suggested it was solely about addressing 'urgent' security changes.īut the limited details we know about the issues come from the update description page on Apple's support website, rather than a warning from the company.Īpple didn't say how the vulnerabilities were discovered or by who - it just cited 'anonymous researchers' in its brief reports. The news prompted warnings from security experts for Apple users to update their devices. Apple has disclosed serious security vulnerabilities for iPhones, iPads and computers that could allow hackers to take complete control of these devices.

Software update apple