iOS urgent update: India’s official IT security organisation CERT-In or the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team has asked users of iPads and iPhones to urgently update their devices to the latest iOS and iPadOS software updates. These updates – iOS 14.7.1 and iPadOS 14.7.1 – were released by Cupertino last week to address some critical bugs in the previous version. A memory corruption zero-day vulnerability has been fixed in the update, and this bug has been confirmed by the government to be exploited actively by the attackers. Warning users, CERT-In has said that if attackers are able to exploit this bug successfully, the attacker could execute an arbitrary code and gain elevated privileges on the targeted device.
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Accordingly, the organisation has issued the security alert for all iPhone and iPad users, asking them to update the system, since the bug is affecting all iPhones including 6s and later versions, all models of iPad Pro, iPad Air 2 and later, and iPad fifth-gen and later devices. Apart from these, iPad Mini 4 and later models, iPod Touch (7th-gen) as well as macOS Big Sur devices have also been affected. macOS Big Sur 11.5.1 update also has the fix.
If not updated, the vulnerability can be used by the attacker to execute a malicious code and gain access to the device remotely, CERT-In said.
The bug is present in the iOS and iPadOS’ IOMobileFrameBuffer because of memory corruption issue without adequate memory handling. The cybersecurity organisation has said that attackers with kernel privileges could exploit it with the help of a malicious application.
The update can be installed on iPhones and iPads by heading to Settings, and then going to the General tab. In this, users would be able to go to the Software Update tab and then manually check the update they want to install. Meanwhile, Mac users can go to System Preferences in the menu and click on Software Update.
