Update Now! Apple Issues an Emergency Patch to Address a Zero-Day Flaw in iOS and macOS

New Rapid Security Response (RSR) patches from Apple have been released to address a new zero-day defect that has been used in attacks and affects fully patched iPhones, Macs, and iPads.

Rapid Security Responses are a new form of iOS, iPad, and Mac software release.

They give significant security updates in between software updates, such as upgrades to the WebKit framework stack, the Safari web browser, or other vital system libraries. 

Additionally, they might be utilized to more swiftly address some security concerns, such as those that may have been exploited or identified as being “in the wild.”

If you disable automatic updates or do not install Rapid Security Responses when they are available, your device will be patched as part of future software upgrades.

“Processing web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited,” the company said. 

An anonymous security researcher disclosed the issue, tagged CVE-2023-37450.

Vulnerability Details

The vulnerability was discovered in Apple’s WebKit browser engine, and it allows attackers to get arbitrary code execution on targeted devices by deceiving users into opening web pages with maliciously created information.

WebKit is the browser engine used by Safari, Mail, AppStore, and many other apps on iOS and macOS-powered devices.

The company fixed this security flaw by improving checks to reduce exploitation attempts.

Emergency Patch Released

• macOS Ventura 13.4.1 (a)
• iOS 16.5.1 (a)
• iPadOS 16.5.1 (a)
• Safari 16.5.2

Apple mentions that “The issue was addressed with improved checks.”

Earlier this month, Apple fixed three zero-day vulnerabilities (CVE-2023-32434, CVE-2023-32435, and CVE-2023-32439) that were used by iMessage zero-click attacks to install Triangulation spyware on iPhones.

The first three zero-days (CVE-2023-32409, CVE-2023-28204, and CVE-2023-32373) were used to install mercenary spyware. They were also resolved in May.

Apple patched two further zero-day weaknesses (CVE-2023-28206 and CVE-2023-28205) in April that were being utilized in attack chains to install spyware on devices belonging to high-risk targets using zero-day and n-day defects in Android, iOS, and Chrome.

More than one-fifth (22%) of the 41 publicly known instances of zero-day attacks so far in 2023 have affected software code on Apple devices.

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