Bug fixes and patched vulnerabilities out of line: Apple presents macOS 13.0.1, iPadOS 16.1.1, and iOS 16.1.1 for Mac, iPad, and iPhone.
Apple posted bug fix updates for its latest Mac, iPhone, and iPad operating systems on Wednesday evening. They should fix errors that have occurred in the meantime and plug security gaps – however, Apple is currently only making limited comments on this.
First update for Ventura
macOS 13.0.1 is the first update for the current Mac operating system Ventura. It appears around two weeks after the first official release of macOS 13.0. As usual, the update can be downloaded via the system settings. The update feature has now moved to the “General” area after Apple adjusted the look of the system settings in macOS 13 to match those of the iPhone and iPad. The information provided by Apple is more than scant: It is not even possible to read that the update contains “bug fixes and security updates”. Instead, the 1.5 GB update on our test computer (Intel Mac) is simply offered here.
The only indication of the content is a look at Apple’s security updates website: Apple has patched at least two security holes in macOS 13.0.1. These both affect the libxml2 library. The bugs with the CVE IDs 2022-40303 and 2022-40304 were reported to Apple by Google’s Project Zero and allowed both the generation of crashes and the execution of malicious code – even remotely (“Remote User”). After all, there are no reports that the vulnerabilities are already being exploited. It is unclear whether the two gaps are also in macOS 12 Monterey or earlier versions – in any case, there are no updates yet. Apple recently admitted that only the very latest operating systems are fully patched.
iOS 16.1.1 and iPadOS 16.1.1: WLAN bug solved?
With the new iPhone and iPad operating systems iOS 16.1.1 and iPadOS 16.1.1, Apple does not provide an instruction leaflet either. [The update] “contains bug fixes and security improvements”, it says only succinctly. And indeed, the two libxml2 bugs have been fixed here as well.
It remains unclear whether Apple also addressed two other error areas, an advertising tracking bug that annoyed developers and regularly occurring WLAN problems with the iPhone. Corresponding feedback can be expected in the coming days.
TechAint 