Apple has released security updates for many of its products in order to patch several vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to steal sensitive information from a locked device.
Included in the patches for Apple Watch, iOS, and iPadOS are four vulnerabilities in Siri. While your device is locked there are several voice-commands your digital assistant can process.
Apple has restricted these options to stop an attacker with physical access from being able to access contacts from the lock screen and access other sensitive user data. Using Siri on a locked device has limitations to protect your privacy and security, and the digital assistant should only be able to perform tasks that do not require access to sensitive data locked behind the device’s security systems, such as Face ID or a passcode.
A similar vulnerability was also patched in the VoiceOver component in Apple Watch, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Ventura. To check whether VoiceOver is on or off on your iPhone or iPad, you can check by looking at Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver.
To check if you’re using the latest software version of iOS and iPadOS, go to Settings > General > Software Update. You want to be on iOS 17.6 or iPadOS 17.6, so update now if you’re not. It’s also worth turning on Automatic Updates if you haven’t already. You can do that on the same screen.
Here’s an overview of the available updates for the various Apple products:
| Name: | Available for: |
|---|---|
| Safari 17.6 | macOS Monterey and macOS Ventura |
| iOS 17.6 and iPadOS 17.6 | iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 2nd generation and later, iPad Pro 10.5-inch, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 6th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later |
| iOS 16.7.9 and iPadOS 16.7.9 | iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPad 5th generation, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, and iPad Pro 12.9-inch 1st generation |
| macOS Sonoma 14.6 | macOS Sonoma |
| macOS Ventura 13.6.8 | macOS Ventura |
| macOS Monterey 12.7.6 | macOS Monterey |
| watchOS 10.6 | Apple Watch Series 4 and later |
| tvOS 17.6 | Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K (all models) |
| visionOS 1.3 | Apple Vision Pro |
| iOS 15.8.3 and iPadOS 15.8.3 | iPhone 6s (all models), iPhone 7 (all models), iPhone SE (1st generation), iPad Air 2, iPad mini (4th generation), and iPod touch (7th generation) |
Apple also patched the regreSSHion vulnerability that allows unauthenticated Remote Code Execution (RCE) in OpenSSH.
For beta testers Apple also released the first beta of iOS 18.1 to developers. This update is available for iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max and includes the first set of Apple Intelligence features, such as Writing Tools, new features for Mail and notifications, upgrades to Photos, and more.
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