Apple patches major iPhone, iPad, and Mac security flaw in vital new update

Iphone 12 Pro Ios 15 Work Focus
Iphone 12 Pro Ios 15 Work Focus (Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple released new software for iPhone, iPad, and Mac this week.
  • The company says it has fixed a major WebKit security vulnerability.
  • It says this flaw may have been actively exploited, so you should upgrade right away.

Apple has confirmed that software released for its iPhone, iPad, and Macs this week has patched a big security issue that could be actively exploited.

Apple released new versions of iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey this week. From the release notes:

Available for: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation)Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.Description: A use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management.CVE-2022-22620: an anonymous researcher

The same issue also found on Macs has also been corrected. It was found by an anonymous researcher and Apple warns that it may have been actively exploited by malicious users.

With that being said, this is probably one new version of the software for your various iDevices that you don't want to ignore. If you're not sure how to download it, you can follow our guide on how to download and install iOS 15.3.1 on your iPhone and how to download and install macOS Monterey 12.2.1 on your Mac.

Apple also released an update for watchOS 8 to patch the same pervading issue, so don't wait to download all of these updates now!

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9