Apple Patches Two Security Vulnerabilities Impacting Mail App in iOS 13.4.5 Beta

San Francisco-based cybersecurity company ZecOps today announced that it has uncovered two zero-day security vulnerabilities affecting Apple's stock Mail app on iOS devices, as noted by Motherboard and The Wall Street Journal.

mail ios app icon
ZecOps claims that one of the vulnerabilities enables an attacker to remotely infect an iOS device by sending emails that consume a significant amount of memory, while another could allow remote code execution capabilities. Successful exploitation of the vulnerabilities is said to allow an attacker to leak, modify, and delete a user's emails.

Targets of the vulnerabilities have apparently included corporate executives and government officials rather than average end users.

The vulnerabilities are said to impact all software versions between iOS 6 and iOS 13.4.1. ZecOps said that Apple has patched the vulnerabilities in the latest beta of iOS 13.4.5, which should be publicly released within the coming weeks. In the meantime, ZecOps recommends using a third-party email app like Gmail or Outlook, which are apparently not impacted.

Related Forum: iOS 13

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
Apple TV 4K hero 221018 feature

Here is Everything New for the Apple TV in the tvOS 18.3 Update So Far

Tuesday December 17, 2024 6:25 am PST by
Apple on Monday seeded the first tvOS 18.3 beta to developers for testing. The update will likely be released in January. So far, there are only minor changes for the Apple TV, with one new feature and a few code changes discovered. Below, we outline what is new in tvOS 18.3 so far. Robot Vacuum Support in Home App First, tvOS 18.3 will add robot vacuum support to the Home app on the...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

Nimrad Avatar
61 months ago
There are also some critical usability issues that need to fixed asap.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fbr$ Avatar
61 months ago

ZecOps recommends using a third-party email app like Gmail
I stopped reading there...
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mick-Mac Avatar
61 months ago
The ONE thing I like about Apple's Mail (on both the Mac and iOS) is that Apple demonstrably respect your privacy. Everybody else pretty much doesn't (except for paid services like proton mail). So I use Apple's Mail, however it is just a piece of junk compared to everything else out there. It's good that security bugs are found and fixed, but in the name of all things holy can somebody at Apple please dip their little finger into that hoard of cash they own and just FIX mail. Make it something they can take pride in and not be a magnet for endless frustration for their customers.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
61 months ago

I guess everyone with devices that can't run iOS 13 need to just buy new hardware.
My guess is Apple will roll this into ios 12, when ios 13.4.5 is released.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
H3LL5P4WN Avatar
61 months ago
How considerate of them to tell Apple first and allow it to be patched before publicly disclosing it.

/s
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Itada Avatar
61 months ago

How considerate of them to tell Apple first and allow it to be patched before publicly disclosing it.

/s
Except that the cat was already out of the bag: they were already being exploited, for years. ZecOps found them by investigating the aftermath of successful attacks.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)