Apple has cautioned of a major security issue that could give attackers total control of the company’s iPhones, iPads, and iMacs.

In fresh security reports, the tech giant acknowledged the problem and stated that it was “aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.”

Apple claimed that there are reliable indications suggesting that hackers are already taking use of the flaws in both instances to harm consumers.

According to Apple, one of the software flaws affects the kernel, the most fundamental component of the operating system used by all devices. The other has an impact on WebKit, the engine that powers the Safari web browser.

This means that a hacker could gain “complete admin access to the device” and “run any code as if they were you, the user,” according to Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security.

Apple Security Update

Users of the iPhone 6 and later versions, various iPad models, including the 5th generation and later, all iPad Pro models, and the iPad Air 2, as well as Mac computers running macOS Monterey, have been advised by security experts to upgrade the affected devices. The 7th generation iPod Touch models are similarly impacted by the flaws.

Go to Settings, then General, and Software Update on your iPhone or iPad to download the update. After that, follow the download instructions for the update.

Apple frequently releases security patches for its phones as quickly as vulnerabilities are discovered, but since this one might have already been used in the wild, users should download this most recent patch right once.

The vulnerabilities were previously categorized as “zero-day” issues since a fix had been made available for them for zero days before the update’s release last Wednesday.

Such flaws are extremely lucrative on the open market, and cyberweapon dealers will pay thousands or even millions of dollars for them.

People “in the public spotlight,” such as activists or journalists, who could be the focus of sophisticated nation-state eavesdropping, should pay extra attention to updating their software, according to Tobac.

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