14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday’s iOS 7.0.3 release has slipped unnoticed by some users, mainly because it’s not a major build, but rather just a maintenance update with bug fixes.
So if your phone is running well and you don’t feel like you lack anything, chances are you’ll probably live a while longer without hitting that Software Update button.
But you’d be wrong to do that, because iOS 7.0.3 is a pretty big deal. Especially security-wise.
In addition to addressing nausea, which you may have been feeling but didn’t know why, iOS 7.0.3 comes with a trio of fixes for recently found vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities, if exploited, can damage or leak private information.
An advisory on Apple’s Support site reveals that iOS 7.0.3 fixes a flaw where “a NULL dereference in the lock screen […] would cause it to restart if the emergency call button was tapped while a notification was being swiped and while the camera pane was partly visible.”
Granted, it’s not the easiest of hacks, but it’s there and it’s open if you’re still on iOS 7.0.2.
“While the lock screen was restarting, the call dialer could not get the lock screen state and assumed the device was unlocked, and so allowed non-emergency numbers to be dialed,” Apple explains. “This issue was addressed by avoiding the NULL dereference,” the company adds.
A second Passcode Lock flaw is also mentioned in the advisory. That one is also for the iPhone 4, and it’s addressed in iOS 7.0.3.
Finally, a Phone app bug can allow a person with physical access to the device to call contacts.
“Race conditions existed in the Phone app at the lock screen. Under various circumstances, the Phone app may allow access to the Contacts pane. This issue was addressed by preventing this display of the Contacts pane while the phone is locked,” Apple says.