Apple Fixes Critical iOS & macOS Bug

Apple released security updates to fix multiple security vulnerabilities in older versions of iOS and macOS that it says have been detected in exploits in the wild.

Critical one on the list is CVE-2021-30869, a type confusion flaw that resides in the kernel component XNU developed by Apple that could cause a malicious application to execute arbitrary code with the highest privileges.

Two other flaws include CVE-2021-30858 and CVE-2021-30860, both of which were resolved by the company earlier this month following disclosure from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab that about a previously unknown exploit called FORCEDENTRY

The patches are available for devices running macOS Catalina and iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and iPod touch (6th generation) running iOS 12.5.4.

The development also comes as security researchers have disclosed unpatched zero-day flaws in iOS, including a lock screen bypass bug and a clutch of vulnerabilities that could be abused by an app to gain access to users’ Apple ID email addresses and full names, check if a specific app is installed on the device given its bundle ID, and even retrieve Wi-Fi information without proper authorization.