Apple has finally released the iOS 17.3 and macOS 14.3 to the general public. The latest iOS heralds the much-touted Stolen Device Protection and the Collaborative Playlists for Apple Music. The best part is that iOS 17.3 and the macOS 14.3 come bundled with several critical security updates. Let us take a closer look at the update and the new features that it has to offer.
As per the security support page, the iOS 17. 3 arrives with 15 security fixes. Some of them are critical and patch active vulnerabilities. Interestingly the fixes are common across both iOS and macOS.
The update has fixed an issue pertaining to the Apple Neural Engine. The vulnerability allowed malicious actors to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Furthermore, another vulnerability allowed third-party apps to access sensitive user data from the Mail app. Apple has acknowledged that threat actors may have exploited these vulnerabilities.
A file handling issue in the Spell Checker module allowed a specific app to gain access to sensitive user data. What caught my attention is a surprisingly weird Time Zone bug. The release notes say that it allowed an app to view a user’s phone number from system logs. It seems like a vulnerability that has affected multiple apps and modules. Other fixed breaches include WebKit, Shortcuts, TCC, Safari, and CoreCrypto.
Apple has also fixed important issues that are not related to security. For instance, the Stolen Device Protection was unexpectedly disabled on certain iPhones. Another bug made Safari display users’ private browsing data in history.
How to Update to iOS 17.3
The update comes bundled with a slew of bug fixes and security patches. We suggest you download and install the update right away. To do so, head over to Settings>General>Software Update. And don’t worry if your iPhone is not running iOS 16.7.5 as the security update is available for iOS 16.7.5 and iOS 15.8.1.