iOS 17.7—Update Warning Issued To All iPhone Users

Apple released iOS 17.7 on Monday, along with a warning to update your iPhone. That’s because iOS 17.7 comes with a large list of 16 important security fixes for all iPhone users.

The company doesn’t provide much information about what’s fixed in iOS 17.7 to give people time to update and prevent attackers getting hold of the details. The iOS 17.7 update “provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users,” Apple said.

Apple’s iOS 17.7 upgrade was released alongside iOS 18, including many of the same security fixes. The iOS 17.7 update is for iPhone users who want to wait before upgrading to the latest Apple software.

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What’s Fixed In iOS 17.7?

Among the flaws fixed in iOS 17.7 are two in the Kernel at the heart of the iOS operating system, Apple wrote on its support page. The first, tracked as CVE-2024-44165, could see network traffic leak outside a VPN tunnel. The second, CVE-2024-4419, could enable an app to gain unauthorized access to Bluetooth.

The iOS 17.7 update also fixes two issues in Shortcuts that could see data exposed. A flaw in Mail Accounts tracked as CVE-2024-40791 could result in an app being able to access information about a user’s contacts.

Meanwhile, an issue in Accessibility, CVE-2024-44171, could allow an attacker with physical access to a locked device to control nearby devices via accessibility features.

The majority of the vulnerabilities fixed in iOS 17.7 appear to impact availability or privacy, says Sean Wright, head of application security at Featurespace. Therefore, he says, they aren’t of huge value for attackers.

Even so, security updates are important, especially if you use your iPhone for work and loss of availability would be a concern. Taking this into account, he advises iPhone users to “update to the latest version of iOS 17, or upgrade to iOS 18.”

Apple’s iOS 17.7 update is available for the iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 2nd generation and later, iPad Pro 10.5-inch, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 6th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later.

Update Now To iOS 17.7 — or iOS 18

None of the issues patched in iOS 17.7 are being used in real life attacks — yet. But it’s a large list of fixes that could impact the functioning of your iPhone and its data, making it important that you update as soon as you can.

Or, if you are feeling brave, you could update to iOS 18 now instead. I’ll be covering iOS 18 in more detail, too, so check back to my page on Forbes.com.

So, what are you waiting for? Go to your Settings > General > Software Update and update to iOS 17.7 or iOS 18 now.