About a week after Apple released macOS Monterey 12.3.1 with significant security fixes, Big Sur 11.6.6 arrived to seemingly plug the same holes. Security update 2022-004 for Catalina will likely arrive today or tomorrow as well.
The update is 2.53 GB and the release notes simply say, “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 fixes two vulnerabilities that may have been actively exploited:
AppleAVD
- Impact: An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
- The description: An out-of-bounds write issue has been 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
- The description: An out-of-bounds read issue can lead to kernel memory disclosure and has been 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, go to System Preferences and click the Software update window. Click “Install Now”.