Apple issued a patch for Safari, fixing 83 vulnerabilities, 72 of which were rated critical.


Since Safari and Chrome both use WebKit, the open-source browser engine, it allows Apple to reap the benefits of Google’s web bounty program, which is responsible for the majority of the Safari WebKit-related fixes.

The timing of these patches also comes on the heels of CanSecWest Pwn2Own and Google’s Pwnium competitions where researchers try to research and exploit browser bugs.

Whenever there are new products announced from Apple, people should always expect tons of updates containing security fixes, product enhancements, and of course Apple’s ever changing EULA. Shortly after I saw the new iPad announcement, I started noticing prompts for updating software and agreeing to new terms on my Apple products.

There are a couple of takeaways from this, the first being that Apple products are “hacker proof” is a myth.

With the bring-your-own-device movement gaining steam in IT enterprises, there are many organizations that have Apple products appearing in their networks without the tools to manage them. Even just allowing employees to install iTunes on their machines exposes the organization to Safari/WebKit vulnerabilities.


Author: Marcus Carey, security researcher at Rapid7.