Apple fixes security flaw in watchOS 8.7; Cert-In advises users to update their devices

Apple Watch running on watchOS 8.6 could be susceptible to a critical security flaw. As per the official website of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, Apple Watch running on watchOS versions prior to 8.7 has multiple vulnerabilities that compromise the overall security of the device. These vulnerabilities could allow attackers or bad actors to execute arbitrary code and bypass the security restrictions to gain access of data and other resources on the Apple Watch.

Apple Watch running on older UI could be at risk

The post further explains that there are multiple vulnerabilities in the Apple Watch, including buffer overflow in the AppleAVD component, authorisation issue in the AppleMobileFileIntegrity component, out-of-bounds write in Audio and more. Moreover, these security flaws could allow bad actors to gain access to the device and other personal information that is stored on the device. To specify, these problems existed in watchOS 8.6.

However, Apple has released the watchOS 8.7 and the security issues highlighted by Cert-In have been fixed. The Apple Security Updates page reveals that the flaw highlighted by Cert-In was discovered by Natalie Sivanovich from Google Project Zero Team and the name of the error is CVE-2022-32788. While most users might have upgraded their Apple Watch to the latest operating system, those who haven't should update it right away as their data could be at risk. 

In related news, Apple released iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6 for iPhone and iPad users on July 20, 2022. Along with these, the Cupertino-based tech giant has also released macOS 12.5,watchOS 8.7 and tvOS 15.6. Although these updates do not come with major changes, they contain a couple of bug fixes for all the platforms. Those who wish to download the latest version of iOS and iPadOS can head over to the Settings section, tap on General and select Software Update. Here are the iOS 15.6 release notes and security updates.