Roughly a week after Apple released macOS Monterey 12.3.1 with important security fixes, Big Sur 11.6.6 has arrived to seemingly plug the same holes. Security Update 2022-004 for Catalina will presumably arrive today or tomorrow as well.
The update is 2.53GB and the release notes merely state, “This update is recommended for all users and improves the security of macOS.” Apple hasn’t updated its security page with information about the new release, but assuming it’s the same as Apple’s Monterey release notes, the emergency update patches two vulnerabilities that may have been actively exploited:
AppleAVD
- Impact: An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
- Description: An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.
- CVE-2022-22675: an anonymous researcher
Intel Graphics Driver
- Impact: An application may be able to read kernel memory
- Description: An out-of-bounds read issue may lead to the disclosure of kernel memory and was addressed with improved input validation. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.
- CVE-2022-22674: an anonymous researcher
To install the update on your Mac, head over to System Preferences and click on the Software Update pane. The click “Install Now.”
