Indian government warns Apple Watch users of 'high severity' vulnerabilities
If you are yet to update your Apple Watch, you should do so immediately. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has flagged multiple vulnerabilities in the devices running watchOS 8.6 and older versions. Apple has also listed them on its support website. These vulnerabilities have been given a high severity rating and might permit hackers to bypass security restrictions and execute arbitrary code.
Why does this story matter?
Remote hackers can bypass security restrictions on Apple Watches running on versions older than watchOS 8.7 and take control of the wearable. They may also cause kernel code execution. Thankfully, these vulnerabilities have been resolved in the latest firmware so that bad actors cannot get their hands on your data. As gadgets become more high-tech, hacking will become a greater cause of worry.
What exactly is the issue?
CERT-In's vulnerability notification claims there is a "buffer overflow in the AppleAVD component; an authorization issue in AppleMobileFileintegrity component; out-of-bounds write in Audio, ICU, and WebKit component; and type confusion in Multi-Touch component." Multiple out-of-bounds write and memory corruption in GPU Drivers component and memory initialization in libxml2 are also there. These issues have been resolved in the patches included in watchOS 8.7 update.
What is CERT-In?
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is an agency working under the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Its job is to flag bugs and threats to cybersecurity, such as phishing.
How to update the Apple Watch?
To update your Apple Watch to watchOS 8.7, make sure that your device is connected to Wi-Fi. Now, go to "Settings," then tap on "General," and click on "Software Update." If the firmware is available for download, it will be shown on the screen. Finally, press "Download and Install." Your Apple Watch will get updated, and all the vulnerabilities will also be fixed.
