iOS 16.7.1 Addresses Critical Security Flaws for iDevices Not Yet on iOS 17

Apple customers who haven’t yet made the jump to iOS 17 – or can’t, because of hardware limitations – have an important update to install this week.

According to an advisory from Cupertino, California, iOS 16.7.1 and iPadOS 16.7.1 are available worldwide for iPhone 8 and newer models, all iPad Pro models, iPad Air 3rd generation and newer, iPad 5th generation and newer, and iPad mini 5th generation and newer.

The patch targets customers who are either not eligible to deploy iOS 17 (which already includes the latest security fixes) or who simply haven’t yet made the jump to the latest OS version for their device.

Regardless of your reasons, if you’re still on the iOS 16 bandwagon, it’s important to install this week’s patch, as Apple says hackers are actively exploiting one of the security flaws it addresses.

Specifically, a Kernel vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-42824 is said to enable “a local attacker [to] elevate their privileges.” As noted in our previous coverage of this weakness, an attacker would likely use this flaw as part of a wider exploit chain, in order to compromise a target device.

“Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS before iOS 16.6,” according to the security notice.

iOS 16.7.1 also addresses a buffer overflow in WebRTC. Tracked as CVE-2023-5217 in the infosec community, this particular issue was found by Google’s threat analysts to be exploited in spyware attacks.

In September, researchers at The Citizen Lab disclosed multiple critical security flaws – already patched by Apple and Google at the time – being used to infect high-profile targets with Predator spyware.

Apple in the past few years has been fighting an ever-expanding range of attacks on its platforms, making it important that users stay up to date with the latest patch issued by the Cupertino tech giant.

Users should also consider deploying a dedicated security solution on their Apple gizmos, to defend against the vast array of cyber threats making the rounds today.