Apple to Patch Web Browser Vulnerabilities Affecting Recent Macs, iPads and iPhones

There are two new speculative execution attacks that impact recent Apple chips, according to data shared today by Georgia Tech students that discovered the vulnerabilities.

slap flop vulnerabilities
Named SLAP and FLOP, the two security flaws could allow an attacker to use a malicious webpage to spy on the contents of other webpages, giving attackers remote access to browsing history, credit card data, emails, location information, and more. Physical access to a device is not required, and the attack can be executed through a malicious site that bypasses Apple's browser protections.

Several Apple A-series and M-series chips are affected, including the M2 and later and the A15 and later, which are in the following devices:

  • 2022 and later Mac notebooks
  • 2023 and later Mac desktops
  • 2021 and later iPad models
  • 2021 and later iPhones

SLAP and FLOP were disclosed to Apple in May 2024 and September 2024, respectively, and while the attacks have not yet been patched, the researchers who reported the issue were told that Apple plans to address the vulnerabilities in an upcoming security update.

Apple told Bleeping Computer that it has not yet patched the flaws. "We want to thank the researchers for their collaboration as this proof of concept advances our understanding of these types of threats," Apple said. "Based on our analysis, we do not believe this issue poses an immediate risk to our users."

SLAP affects Safari, while FLOP affects Safari and Chrome. Other browsers like Firefox could be affected too, but have not been tested. There is no evidence that SLAP and FLOP have been executed in the wild.

Details on how SLAP and FLOP work can be found on the website dedicated to explaining the vulnerabilities.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
replay all time playlist apple music

Apple Music Debuts All-New Personalized Playlist

Monday June 30, 2025 7:16 am PDT by
As part of its 10-year celebrations of Apple Music, Apple today released an all-new personalized playlist that collates your entire listening history. The playlist, called "Replay All Time," expands on Apple Music's existing Replay features. Previously, users could only see their top songs for each individual calendar year that they've been subscribed to Apple Music, but now, Replay All...

Top Rated Comments

awer25 Avatar
22 weeks ago
Help us Genmoji, you're our only hope!
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
canadianreader Avatar
22 weeks ago

Apple told Bleeping Computer ('https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-apple-cpu-side-channel-attack-steals-data-from-browsers/') that it has not yet patched the flaws. "We want to thank the researchers for their collaboration as this proof of concept advances our understanding of these types of threats," Apple said. "Based on our analysis, we do not believe this issue poses an immediate risk to our users."
They're too busy fixing Apple Intelligence.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
centauratlas Avatar
22 weeks ago
"we do not believe this issue poses an immediate risk to our users." That may have been true but now that it was published in the two papers that Bleeping links to I would suspect that would change. Apple should have patched these. Reminds me of Meltdown and Spectre.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DeftwillP Avatar
22 weeks ago
It's ok guy, siri's got this.

"hey siri, load the patch from apple for the newest exploit"
"I couldn't find that person in your contacts"
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
22 weeks ago
Have they patched the other FLOP?
Think it’s called Apple Intelligence.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Razorpit Avatar
22 weeks ago

They're too busy fixing Apple Intelligence.
Maybe we can have Apple Intelligence write a patch! What could go wrong? ?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)