You should update your Mac now

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freitasm

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#284512 27-Apr-2021 09:23

All Your Macs Are Belong To Us : Objective-See

Update Your Mac Now: The ‘Worst Hack In Years’ Hits Apple Computers (forbes.com)

But first, go update your macOS systems to 11.3, as it contains a patch for a massive bug that affects all recent versions of macOS…a bug that is the topic of this blog post.

This bug trivially bypasses many core Apple security mechanisms, leaving Mac users at grave risk

Apple patched the bug as CVE-2021-30657, noting "a malicious application may bypass Gatekeeper checks"

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gzt

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#2698696 27-Apr-2021 11:45

It's probably not as bad as it sounds for most people running trusted software. Having said that, there are other nasties in the readme for this one.

freitasm

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#2698700 27-Apr-2021 11:49

gzt: It's probably not as bad as it sounds for most people running trusted software. Having said that, there are other nasties in the readme for this one.

The problem is not running trusted software. It only takes a little bit of social engineering to get someone to click on a link and install some third-party software. Then it's all gone from there.

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Zeon

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#2698717 27-Apr-2021 12:11

I seem to recall there were privacy concerns with Mac Big Sur:

https://sneak.berlin/20201112/your-computer-isnt-yours/

I have held off on upgrading TBH. Will the patch be released for 10.15?

Speedtest 2019-10-14

alasta

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#2698748 27-Apr-2021 14:11

Thanks for the warning - I will update my main laptop when I get home tonight.

My friend has my older laptop and I'm not sure how worried I should be about that. She doesn't have admin rights to it, so would this security flaw mean that she could run a potentially harmful downloaded application? Or does the lack of admin rights make that impossible? I don't really want to have to rush down there to run the software update myself, and I'm assuming she won't be able to do it without admin rights.

Behodar

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#2698749 27-Apr-2021 14:14

She could still run something that e.g. deletes files from her home directory.

You say it's an older machine; which OS is is currently running? Apparently the issue doesn't affect versions prior to 10.15.

FineWine

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#2698768 27-Apr-2021 14:50

Zeon:

I seem to recall there were privacy concerns with Mac Big Sur:

https://sneak.berlin/20201112/your-computer-isnt-yours/

I have held off on upgrading TBH. Will the patch be released for 10.15?

Security Update 2021-002 Catalina this morning bringing it to 10.15.7 Build 19H1030 April 26, 2021

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

HP

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alasta

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#2698778 27-Apr-2021 15:18

Behodar:

She could still run something that e.g. deletes files from her home directory.

You say it's an older machine; which OS is is currently running? Apparently the issue doesn't affect versions prior to 10.15.

Good question! I originally bought it in 2015 but it has had subsequent software updates.

I'll call her tonight and get her to check what version it's on currently.