Apple Warns of Major Flaw in iOS Devices and Macs
On August 17 Apple announced that the company had discovered a significant vulnerability affecting most of its flagship products, including iPads, iPhones and Mac computers.
The vulnerability was found within the browser engine used by both Safari and other applications running on those devices, called WebKit. Another part of the vulnerability affected the system kernel, essentially going down to the very root of the device and the software that runs on it.
To make matters even more worrisome, Apple mentioned that the company was "aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited." What the full implications and scope of those possible exploits may be is anyone's guess.
The vulnerability inside WebKit could be exploited by maliciously constructed web content that can lead to giving arbitrary code execution access on the device in question. The kernel vulnerability allows for the same, but on the kernel level, essentially giving a malicious actor full control over the compromised device.
The issue goes as far back in the Apple product lineup as iPhone 6 models and iPad 5th generation devices. Every iPad Pro model is also affected, as well as certain iPod models.
The warning comes with the urgent recommendation that all device owners update their respective Apple hardware immediately to avoid prolonged exposure to a known vulnerability that may have been exploited in the wild.