It’s been almost a year since the last time this happened, and once again, you can’t escape seeing headlines about this all over the news. Late Wednesday, Apple released a set of security updates affecting all products running current versions of macOS, iOS, and iPadOS.
The exploits are known to Apple to be actively exploited by attackers.
Tech Crunch
Specifically, the concern is malware that can be transmitted via WebKit, the browser engine behind Safari and other key aspects of the entire operating system, and infect a device without any interaction on your part. To be safe, get the updates as soon as your schedule allows in the next day or two.
What devices are affected?
You can see the specific updates in this Apple support article for macOS Monterey, this one for macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina, or this one for iOS and iPadOS, but in summary:
- Devices running macOS 10.15 Catalina, and macOS 11 Big Sur need to run a Safari update to 15.6.1
- Devices running or macOS Monterey need to update to 12.5.1
- All mobile devices running iOS 15 or iPadOS 15 need to update to 15.6.1
How do you get the updates?
If your device is already setup for automatic updates, you will get prompted soon. If not, or you don’t want to wait, you can follow any of the following links to see how to run updates on your devices:
- Update macOS (follow the steps for Update not Upgrade): https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201541
- Focus on the “Other update(s) is(are) available option if you are not already running Monterey, by clicking More info…,, and then following the prompts.
- Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204204
Do I have to be running macOS Monterey for this?
No. There are Safari updates that are applicable for computers running macOS 10.15 Catalina and macOS 11 Big Sur.
Should I go ahead and run the macOS Monterey upgrade while I am at it?
Nope. That is a much bigger and very different question. Don’t go down that path right now, just get the updates for the version of macOS you currently have installed on your computer.
How long do these updates take?
The time needed will vary depending on your internet speed to download the updates, the congestion on Apple’s servers offering the downloads at the time you attempt to run them, the age of your device, and which updates your devices need. So far in our testing and running these on our own systems, we’ve found:
- iPhone and iPad devices that are 3 years old or younger, are taking 15-20 minutes.
- 2018 & 2019 MacBook Pro computers running macOS 10.15 Catalina and macOS Big Sur are taking 10-15 minutes.
- 2021 and 2022 MacBook Pro computers running macOS 12 Monterey are taking 20-25 minutes.
You will need to be patient while running the updates and remember that any timer telling you “xx” minutes remaining really is an estimate. Don’t start these if you have a need for your device 15 minutes later. Give yourself some breathing room.
What if my computer isn’t seeing the updates?
There is a known bug in some versions of macOS that can prevent your device from seeing the available updates under some circumstances. If that is the case, and you have worked with us to get MDM installed on your fleet of computers, then we’ve pushed a “Kickstart Software Update” script to your systems. Your users can run this from Self-Service.app found in the Applications folder. Double-click Self-Service.app, Click on (1) Your Scripts and then (2) Execute Now under the script icon. Once complete, follow the previously mentioned steps to run Software Update again.
If you aren’t using MDM in your business environment, you can follow these steps to get Software Update working again. Then, schedule time to get in touch next week, because you really should be.
Anything else I need to do?
Nope. Once you run these updates, you are set. If you’re one of our Managed and Co-Managed clients, we are working directly with their leadership teams to get these updates into their environments.
