Apple said that it is aware of reports that the flaw is being ‘exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack’ against specific people.

 

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FILE - An Apple logo adorns the facade of the downtown Brooklyn Apple store on March 14, 2020, in New York. AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File

 

Jack Phillips

Breaking News Reporter

Apple on Wednesday released an emergency update to fix an urgent vulnerability for its iPhones and iPads that was “exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack.”

In a notice on its website, Apple said the updates are available now for its iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch first generation and later, iPad Air third generation and later, iPad seventh generation and later, and iPad mini fifth generation and later.

Reports of Flaw Being Exploited

Apple said that the flaw impacts the processing of an image file, which “may result in memory corruption,” according to the notice.

“Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals,” the Cupertino, California-based tech giant added. It did not provide any details about who might have been targeted.

Apple generally does not provide details about security flaws or how they are being exploited in the wild. The company reiterated it would not release details about the security issue.

“For our customers’ protection, Apple doesn’t disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until an investigation has occurred and patches or releases are available,” the company said.

Apple said it released an update to its macOS Sequoia, bringing the operating system to version 15.6.1. Apple’s notes said only that “update provides important bug fixes and security updates and is recommended for all users.”

Warning From Security Company

A blog post from the MalwareBytes antivirus and security company on Thursday noted that the security flaw “means that the attacker can manipulate parts of the device’s memory that should be out of their reach.”

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“Such a flaw in a program allows it to read or write outside the bounds the program sets, enabling attackers to manipulate other parts of the memory allocated to more critical functions,” the post said. “Attackers can write code to a part of the memory where the system executes it with permissions that the program and user should not have.”

Specifically, it noted, an attacker could use an image to exploit the security flaw, meaning that a malicious image file could corrupt the device’s memory.

“Memory corruption issues can be manipulated to crash a process or run attacker’s code,” said MalwareBytes in the blog post.

How to Update

People using iPhones or iPads should check whether the device has the latest software version. They’re advised to go to the Settings app, tap General, and then tap Software Update. Users will want to be using iOS 18.6.2 or iPadOS 18.6.2, and for older models, version 17.7.10.

Mac desktop and laptop users are advised to go to the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen before going to System Settings. After that, users are advised to go to General, select Software Update, and then the Mac will automatically check for updates.

If an update is available, the user should see an option to download and install.

Apple to Unveil Products Next Month

Apple is scheduled to hold its annual event in early September, where it will likely debut new devices and features. Generally, the company holds its annual iPhone launch event in early to mid-September.

In June, Apple unveiled upgrades to operating systems across its devices, including overhauled visual elements, a fresh naming system for software updates, and new features in its Apple Intelligence suite. At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, the company also said it would open up the underlying technology it uses for Apple Intelligence to developers.

This year’s major iOS release would have originally been called iOS 19, following the usual sequence after iOS 18. However, Apple is now changing its naming convention: future iOS versions will be numbered based on the year following their release—similar to how car manufacturers name new models.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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