Government Issued Security Warning For Apple Users

India’s cybersecurity watchdog, CERT-In (Computer Emergency Response Team), which works under MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology), has recently issued an alarming security warning for Apple users. The warning, shared with iOS, iPadOS, and macOS after the iPhone 16 launch, suggests the products have security vulnerabilities that allow cyber attackers to access users' sensitive data. 

CERT-In revealed that except for accessing sensitive info, attackers can use these flaws to “execute arbitrary code, bypass security restrictions, cause denial of service (DoS) conditions, bypass authentication, gain elevated privileges, and perform spoofing attacks on the targeted system.” 

The security vulnerabilities affect the following Apple software versions: 

• Versions of iOS and iPadOS prior to 17.6 and 16.7.9
• MacOS versions prior to 12.7.6 (Monterey), 13.6.8 (Ventura), 14.6 (Sonoma)
• WatchOS versions prior to 10.6
• TvOS versions prior to 17.6
• VisionOS versions prior to 1.3
• Safari versions prior to 17.6

The government also warned Apple users about mercenary spyware attacks which are similar to the Pegasus spyware. These alerts were sent to Apple users across 150 nations, including India. Iltija Mufti, media advisor and daughter of Mehbooba Mufti, who is the former CM of Jammu & Kashmir and founder of Samruddha Bharat Foundation Pushparaj Deshpande, has reported receiving these warnings. 

CERT-In shared that these security flaws have been fixed in the latest iOS, macOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, Safari, Xcode, and visionOS software. So, Apple users must update their device’s software versions. Meanwhile, MeitY and Apple have yet to respond to inquiries related to security issues.