Apple emits emergency iOS security updates while warning holes may have been exploited in wild by hackers

Apple today released software updates to patch vulnerabilities in iPhones and iPads that may have been exploited by miscreants to silently snoop on victims from afar. Folks should check for and install the latest version of their iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS software. Here's the quick run down of the programming blunders: …

[ExRLCBod]

bobby trapped? who on earth is bobby and why is he trapped inside a VS project?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, bobby trapped is correct. Booby trapped The former term was determined to be sexist except when used to describe a breast mammary gland entrapped in a bra Under Garment-High(UGH).

... and now I'm out of here is fast as my little legs can carry me.

[big_D]

A booby is a bird of the feathered variety.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booby

[Unicornpiss]

Birdwatching

"A booby is a bird of the feathered variety."

They're very easy to spot as they almost always are seen in pairs in the wild..

[Korev]

Re: Birdwatching

Oh do stop, you’re just making a tit out of yourself...

[Tim99]

Caught by Met coppers?

[Crypto Monad]

It's little Bobby Tables.

[diodesign]

Typo

Yeah, it's fixed -- thanks for reading all the way to the bottom, though please do let us know via [e-mail] so we can fix it right away rather than a day later when we get a chance to read the comments.

C.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bobby trapped

I guess it was a bobby pin in the code.

With this and today's Sudo bugs, maybe it's time to go back to punch cards.

[Anonymous Coward]

Once.....

A long, long time ago I decided I wanted tot try Apple products. It was a time when virusses and the lot become fashionable and Apple products weren't affected.

Now the time is here for me to own some iFashion Apple product and the shit hit the fan.

Me not happy.

[IGotOut]

Re: Once.....

Why? My iPad mini 2 from 2013 gets still gets patched occasionally.

How many Android 4.4 devices are still getting security updates? I guess....hmmm...none?

Typed on an Android phone before the rabid Apple haters get in.

[Dimmer]

Re: Once.....

Will that be the only thing the update changes?

I have a iPhone 6 that is basically a tea warmer due to an update. Charge lasted a day and half, after the update ( and subsequent updates) it last 5 min after unplug.

Last update to my Apple TV messed up remote turning the tv on and introduced as much as 10sec random delays in my HomeKit.

Last update to my phone removed my ability to use the find iPhone app to find my wife’s phone, she has a different Apple ID. Email now starts with a blank screen, then populates.

I understand that patches can effect an app, but removing basic functionality or the app is not a patch. For the Apple guys, yes I did spend a few hours on all the recommendations to restore the functionality back to what I had purchased.

Give us a way back so we are not gambling that the device will be useless after an update.

I will continue to use their product, but will never trust the updates.

[werdsmith]

Re: Once.....

I always update immediately and I’ve never been left with a problem that affects use.

I guess I must be just lucky.

[abs]

Re: Once.....

I do the same and not had any problems so far.

Perhaps the manufacturers are more likely to test and iron out bugs to updates for the most recent versions?

[gryphon]

Re: Once.....

Would seem likely.

Presumably they'll be testing all the updates on virtual copies of the devices and then doing same on physical devices near the end. Maybe they don't do sufficient testing on the latter, or they use devices with brand new batteries every time etc.

[noboard]

Re: Once.....

I'd say a bug that allows someone to take over a phone by visiting a malicious website is a pretty big issue on your phone, you just didn't notice it.

[Archivist]

Re: Once.....

Very lucky, or maybe you don't have any peripherals.

[Unicornpiss]

Re: Once.....

"I always update immediately and I’ve never been left with a problem that affects use."

As a person that has in the past been tasked to support and manage over 2K Apple devices, I can say that you have indeed lived a charmed life. Not that Apple has really been any worse than Android or anyone else. Microsoft of course is the king of using the world as their unwitting beta testers.

[gryphon]

Re: Once.....

Not to say it wasn't caused by an update but I have a 6+ which is pretty much the same internals apart from the screen and battery and didn't get this.

Although perhaps masked by the larger battery, I'm not a heavy user, but it was still easily lasting me the day up until I upgraded at Christmas.

I did get the battery replaced a couple of years ago though.

[Robert Carnegie]

Re: Once.....

Here goes anyway. I'm not an expert, but, iPhone 6, doesn't run the latest iOS but might get patched for this, if it doesn't then, yes, use it as a coaster. Also, look at the battery saver / power use setting. You'll remember - legal action is ingoing in Italy - that Apple were low-powering devices with older batteries through the OS to extend the life of the battery charge... also making them run slower than a new phone. And this was insufficiently publicised. Now the function is optional, so you need to turn it on to use it, I think.

Also, installing iOS in full is recommended, though I don't always do it on my 6s or 7 or whichever one I got to replace my 6. If you don't like iCloud, this involves installing iTunes, updating iTunes, connecting your phone to the PC, backing up, then letting iTunes download about 3GB plus of update then install it on the phone. Both of the last two steps take a while - several hours to download for me. I don't know if that repeats for more than one phone you'd hope not.

I'm patching now; the patch for UK wasn't available when I read the story on Tuesday evening. If the patch isn't offered to you, then maybe it is time to retire the device. You can check existence on the phone and then do the iTunes thing to get it if you prefer, or just go to iTunes first if you're lax about the backups, which you and I should do anyway.

[katrinab]

Re: Once.....

There is an upgrade to iOS 12.5.1. I installed it a couple of hours ago, no problems so far.

[TimMaher]

Re: Once.....

Glad you said that @katrinab.

I was waiting to see if anyone was ahead of me.

[katrinab]

Re: Once.....

My iPhone 6+ is working fine. I did replace the battery a couple of years ago. That probably is your problem as well.

[big_D]

Re: Once.....

Back when I started in computing, the Macs were the most affected devices at my first company. Although there were more Macs than PCs at the time and most wanted to use the Macs. The rest used VT100s.

Macs had a very poor virus record for a long time. It was only with OS X that the problem really died away.

[Tim99]

Re: Once.....

I thought that most of them were trojans? On top of that, Apple software was more than a bit pricey, so a lot of infections were from "borrowed" floppys.

[Anonymous Coward]

How do you discover a kernel level race condition..

..without access to the iOS kernel source code? I can't imagine it could easily be discovered by the APIs apple present to devs.

Perhaps it was a former disgruntled employee of apple who made it known?

[Flywheel]

Never thought I'd see the day

.. when I had to download a 162Mb update to my wristwatch!!

[fidodogbreath]

Re: Never thought I'd see the day

One of the Reg columnists (Dabbsy, IIRC) once mentioned a co-worker who looked at his watch to read a text message but took out his phone to check the time.