India: Union government flags critical flaws found in iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks

The government has identified "multiple vulnerabilities" in Apple devices like iPhones and iPads, which could result in spoofing and exposure of sensitive data. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), acting as the centre's security adviser, highlighted these issues in an advisory released on Friday.

"Multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Apple products which could allow an attacker to access sensitive information, execute arbitrary code, bypass security restrictions, cause denial of service (DoS) and perform spoofing attacks on the targeted system," the advisory said.

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The security flaws impact several Apple software versions, including iOS and iPadOS versions before 17.6 and 16.7.9, macOS Sonoma versions before 14.6, macOS Ventura versions before 13.6.8, macOS Monterey versions before 12.7.6, watchOS versions before 10.6, tvOS versions before 17.6, visionOS versions before 1.3, and Safari versions before 17.6.

The advisory rated the vulnerabilities as "high" in severity. Apple, which typically does not confirm security problems until after an investigation, released their latest security updates last week. The most recent versions of these software are available on their portal.

CERT-In has advised users to install the necessary software updates provided by Apple. The government had previously issued a "high risk" warning for iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and VisionPro headsets. The advisory pointed out a critical vulnerability related to "remote code execution" in several Apple devices.

(With inputs from agencies)