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.
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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.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)As for this patch.. not holding my breath it will be the last one.
within 20minutes I received an email from apple stating .....We removed your post "iOS 13.4.1 mail vulnerability" because it was speculative.
What makes you think the same people would work on these things? There's one graphics designer who creates new emojis who is very good and drawing emojis but doesn't have the slightest clue how to fix bugs in Mail.I'm pretty sure Apple will have prioritised some irrelevant pleasantry like Memoji barf physics in iOS 14 than getting Mail, FaceTime or personal hotspot straightened out.
Of course it's good. The amount of patches we are receiving though, addressing issues evidenced by third parties and made public, doesn't inspire a lot of trust in Apple's own iOS and macOS QA for proactive bug fixing. At least they're pushing those patches relatively fast.Yeah, it's good we actually receive patches and updates, no?
I‘d rather nitpick about the amount of patches we are receiving than having security problems without a patch in sight. It‘s the lesser evil, really.Of course it's good. The amount of patches we are receiving though, addressing issues evidenced by third parties and made public, doesn't inspire a lot of trust in Apple's own iOS and macOS QA for proactive bug fixing. At least they're pushing those patches relatively fast.