If you’re running older Mac or iPhone software, it may be time to patch. Apple has learned of a vulnerability in the operating systems that can enable a hacker to secretly take over.
On Thursday, the company released patches for the vulnerability, which Google security researchers recently discovered being exploited in the real world. The bug has been dubbed CVE-2021-30869 and was previously unknown to Apple, making it a zero-day. Leveraging the flaw can help a hacker execute computer code on a Mac or iPhone with privileges to control the XNU kernel, the nucleus of the operating system.
The vulnerability appears to be the second stage to an attack. Google Security Director Shane Huntley said CVE-2021-30869 was found used with another software flaw—this one known to Apple—that can remotely manipulate an Apple device to execute computer code through Safari’s browser engine Webkit.
The statement suggests the hackers who’ve been exploiting the flaws have been targeting unpatched Macs or iPhones. Interestingly, the vulnerability doesn’t appear to affect the latest software for either device. Instead, Apple’s security patch for Macs was only directed to the macOS Catalina version, which was released in October 2019.
Meanwhile, the patch for iOS is only available for the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3 running iOS 12. Google plans on sharing more details about the attack it discovered in 30 days.
On Thursday, Apple also released more patches to address two other serious vulnerabilities it already began fixing last week. One of those flaws, dubbed ForceEntry, can secretly install spyware on a device, and may have been exploited by an Israeli company called NSO Group.
The latest version of iOS and macOS are already protected from vulnerabilities. But on Thursday, the company issued new patches designed to protect older iPhones running iOS 12, including the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, from the threat.
To update your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Software Update. The device can also update automatically if you toggle on automatic updates. To download macOS software updates, go to the Apple icon > System Preferences > Software Update, and check for more info.