Apple iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS are updated to a new version

Apple is updating its operating systems and has begun rolling out iOS and iPadOS in version 15.6.1, as well as watchOS 8.7.1 and macOS 12.5.1 in the form of product maintenance, which in turn should help improve security and stability. The watchOS update is exclusive to the Apple Watch Series 3.

Updates for iOS, iPadOS, watchOS and macOS

In addition to the two mobile operating systems for iPhone and iPad and the operating software designed for Apple’s wearable, macOS 15 Monterey is also getting an update, which should bring not only a very general improvement in security and stability but also security gaps. at the core of the operating system and the internal rendering engine WebKit close. As usual, Apple is rolling out the following new OS versions in waves: OS Versions

• iOS15.6.1
• iPad OS 15.6.1
• view OS 8.7.1
• macOS Monterey 12.5.1

In addition, there are the general ones that have now become mandatory Apple Security Updates included with each new release, for all updated operating systems.

• iOS 15.6.1 on an iPhone 13 Pro

One of the two major exceptions is the update to watchOS 8.7.1, which is rolling out exclusively for the Apple Watch Series 3 released in 2017 and is not a product update but a bug fix. The new wearable OS fixes a bug that could cause the 3rd generation Apple Watch to crash unexpectedly.

Vulnerabilities in macOS in the wild

As part of the update of its desktop operating system macOS Monterey to version 12.5.1, Apple is closing several security gaps in the operating system kernel and the internal HTML rendering engine WebKit. WebKit is an Apple-developed fork of KHTML and the JavaScript implementation KJS from KDE, which is the basis for the Apple browser Safari. The official ones give more information Release Notes to the security updates for macOS Monterey 12.5.1.

macOS Monterey 12.5.1

• core
• Available for: macOS Monterey
• Impact: An application may execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.
• Description: An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed through improved boundary checking.
• CVE-2022-32894: To Anonymous Investigator
• WebKit
• Available for: macOS Monterey
• Impact: 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.
• Description: An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed through improved boundary checking.
• WebKit Bugzilla: 243557
• CVE-2022-32893: To Anonymous Investigator

macOS 12.5.1 Release Notes

Apple points out that it is aware that zero-day exploits can already be exploited in the wild and therefore recommends an immediate update of the operating system.

iOS and iPadOS 16 are coming

iOS 15.6 and its operating systems will be one of the last releases for the 15x development arm. Just in time for the WWDC 2022 internal developer conference, Apple released the first developer previews of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 and their derivatives.

iOS 16 makes CarPlay the car operating system, and iPadOS 16 should offer better multitasking, but it’s delayed a bit and won’t appear until later. Stage Manager, the new multitasking feature for iPads, is causing problems and is said to delay the start of the operating system on the iPad.