Apple Says Recently Discovered iOS Mail Vulnerabilities Pose No Immediate Threat, But a Patch Is in the Works

Apple has responded to a recent report on vulnerabilities discovered in its iOS Mail app, claiming the issues do not pose an immediate risk to users.

Earlier this week, San Francisco-based cybersecurity company ZecOps said it had uncovered two zero-day security vulnerabilities affecting Apple's stock Mail app for iPhones and iPads.

One of the vulnerabilities was said to enable an attacker to remotely infect an iOS device by sending emails that consume a large amount of memory. Another could allow remote code execution capabilities. Successful exploitation of the vulnerabilities could potentially allow an attacker to leak, modify, or delete a user's emails, claimed ZecOps.

However, Apple has downplayed the severity of the issues in the following statement, which was given to several media outlets.

"Apple takes all reports of security threats seriously. We have thoroughly investigated the researcher's report and, based on the information provided, have concluded these issues do not pose an immediate risk to our users. The researcher identified three issues in Mail, but alone they are insufficient to bypass iPhone and iPad security protections, and we have found no evidence they were used against customers. These potential issues will be addressed in a software update soon. We value our collaboration with security researchers to help keep our users safe and will be crediting the researcher for their assistance."

The vulnerabilities are said to impact all software versions between iOS 6 and iOS 13.4.1. ZecOps said that Apple has patched the vulnerabilities in the latest beta of iOS 13.4.5, which should be publicly released within the coming weeks. Until then, ZecOps recommends using a third-party email app like Gmail or Outlook, which are apparently not impacted.