Apple issues updates to patch device take-over bug

Apple has released several security updates to address vulnerabilities in its iPhones, iPads and Macs that could potentially allow attackers to take complete control of these devices.

The company released the round of updates mid-week to prevent attackers from gaining full control of devices using maliciously crafted web content.

The two vulnerabilities affect the Safari WebKit web browsers extension and the OS kernel.

Security experts have advised users to update affected devices which include the iPhones 6S and later models; several models of the iPad including the fifth generation and later; all iPad Pro models and the iPad Air 2.

The vulnerability is also thought to affect computers running on MacOS Monterey and iPod touch. There’s also an update for Apple’s Safari browser on Macs running the Big Sur and Catalina versions of MacOS.

An attacker could exploit one of these vulnerabilities and take control of an affected device. While it has been widely reported that Apple has confirmed the security flaw has been “actively exploited in the wild” by hackers already, the tech giant failed to disclose the extent of the issue.

The alert comes not long before the firm’s big new software release iOS 16, which is expected next month.

In a statement on its website, the US cyber agency CISA encouraged users and administrators to review the Apple security updates page for the above products and apply the necessary updates as soon as possible.