Apple releases emergency security updates for old iOS

Jan 25, 2023 06:09 GMT  ·  By

Apple has recently shipped a pack of emergency security updates for its devices, but the surprising bit this time is that older products are getting the patches as well.

For example, Apple’s new updates went live even for iOS 12.5.7, which runs including on the iPhone 5s, the device that was released no more, no less than 10 years ago. Of course, few people are still using this iPhone model, but even so, Apple says that updating it to the latest version as soon as possible is critical.

macOS Big Sur 11.7.3 has been updated as well, and in case you’re wondering, the oldest device running it is the 2013 MacBook Air. So yes, Apple is trying to go back as much as possible to patch security bugs, and the new updates must be installed as soon as possible.

Apple explains in the official release notes that iOS 12.5.7 patches a WebKit security vulnerability that is already being exploited in the wild. In other words, users are already being targeted by exploits aimed at this security vulnerability, and this is the reason urgent patching is recommended.

The update is therefore aimed at the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and iPod touch (6th generation).

Apple says that “processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.1.” The bug, which comes down to a type confusion issue (which is now being resolved with improved state handling), was reported by Clément Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group.

Needless to say, if you’re still using these super-old devices, updating to the latest version should be a top priority.