The Apple company has warned about serious security flaws in its iPhones, iPads, and Macs that could potentially allow attackers to take complete control of the devices. Apple's surprise software updates for iPhones, iPads, and Macs on Wednesday addressed two security flaws that Apple knows are being exploited actively by attackers.

Apple confirmed the vulnerabilities in their security report, which reveals that WebKit, which is the browser engine that powers Safari, as well as the kernel, which is the operating system's core, have been exploited.

As Apple points out, the WebKit bug may lead to arbitrary code execution if a vulnerable device accesses or processes “maliciously crafted web content,” which could lead to “arbitrary code execution.”The second bug, allowed a malicious application to "execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges."

which means that the device was fully accessible to the malicious application. As far as we know, there are two flaws in iOS and iPadOS, as well as macOS Monterey that seem to be related to one another. The new iOS 15.6.1 software should be downloaded immediately by users with affected devices. 

The affected devices are the iPhone 6S and later models, the iPad 5th generation and later, all iPad Pro models, and the iPad Air 2; and Mac computers running macOS Monterey. There are also some iPod models affected by this problem. Apple has released iOS 15.6.1 for the 7th generation iPod Touch.

As well as Macs running macOS Monterey are also affected - with users urged to download version 12.5.1 if they wish to update. A researcher with no identity has found that there were issues with Apple's browser engine, WebKit, which is what powers Safari, and the kernel, which is what makes the operating system run.

As of yet, no reports have been confirmed that the security flaw has been exploited against people or devices, and Apple has not issued an official statement on the matter. The update can be obtained by going to the "Settings" section of the device, and choosing the "Software Update" option as option under the "System" tab.

It should be noted that the iOS update is not necessary for older operating systems, such as macOS Catalina and Big Sur. A security warning has been sent to Apple users ahead of its traditional September launch of the latest iPhone - which is expected to be referred to as iPhone 14 this year.