Apple Users using watchOS 8.7 or earlier versions of the device software have been advised by the government to update their devices to the latest software at the earliest. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) suggested in a report that Apple Watch models running earlier versions of the watchOS operating system may be open to a newly discovered vulnerability.
This vulnerability could allow attackers to run arbitrary code and bypass security restrictions on the device. This means that attackers can use this security flaw to execute commands remotely on your device. These commands could include ways to bypass the watch’s security restrictions, allowing attackers to access private information on the smartwatch.
This can include details related to your fitness, your texts and perhaps even banking.
technical Info
According to the CERT-in vulnerability note, vulnerabilities exist in Apple Watch models running on older software due to various flaws. These include “buffer overflow in the AppleAVD component; an authorization problem in the AppleMobileFileIntegrity component; out-of-bound writes in the Audio, ICU and WebKit components; type confusion in the multi-touch component; multiple out-of-bounds writes in the GPU driver component and Memory Corruption,” among others.
“A remote attacker can exploit these vulnerabilities by sending specially crafted requests. Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code and bypass security restrictions on the target system,” the note added. .
What can you do about this?
Thankfully, Apple has already released fixes for these security vulnerabilities in the latest version of its watchOS software for compatible models (Apple Watch Series 3 and above). Users can simply update their Apple Watch to apply security patches for these issues.
To update your Apple Watch, make sure the device has at least 50 percent battery, is connected to a WiFi network, and then open the Settings app on the watch itself. Navigate to General/Software Update and if an update is available, follow the on-screen instructions to update your device. If you don’t see any new updates, you are already on the latest version,