Patch your iPhone now against mystery Mail crash bug

Graham Cluley
Graham Cluley
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Patch your iPhone now against mystery Mail crash bug

iOS 16.0.3 has been pushed out by Apple, and my advice is that you should install it.

Not because it promises to fix a problem with incoming call and app notifications on the iPhone 14 Pro, or because the microphone volume may be a bit low when having a phone call via CarPlay on the iPhone 14, or even because it may be a bit slow to launch the Camera app on… you guessed it… the iPhone 14 Pro.

Ios 16.0.3 update

No, the reason why you should update the operating system on your iPhone to iOS version 16.0.3 is because an important security update.

Apple isn’t saying much about precisely what the problem is, but apparently the security vulnerability (dubbed CVE-2022-22658) lies in the default Mail app that ships with Apple’s phones.

Specifically:

“Processing a maliciously crafted email message may lead to a denial-of-service”

What that means is that someone could craft a boobytrapped message, and when your Mail app tries to do something with the poisoned email it will get its knickers in a twist and crash in a possibly spectacular way.

There is no indication from Apple that the vulnerability has been exploited by the anyone in the outside world, but the fact that it has chosen to push out the patch on its own (rather than surrounded by a melee of fixes for other security holes) suggests that it believes the threat should be taken seriously.

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If you have an iPhone 8 or later you are at risk, says Apple.

So – if you aren’t already updated – make sure to do it now.

For many iPhone users the update will be automatically installed, but – if you want to make sure that you are protected – follow these instructions:

Click on Settings > General > Software Update, and choose Download and Install.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.

2 comments on “Patch your iPhone now against mystery Mail crash bug”

  1. Mary Caffrey

    Thank you for iPhone update info. I followed your advice.

  2. Beccas K

    Please I want software update I need this I’m getting little anxious

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