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The person who filed the bug with Apple happened to stumble into it by accident. That doesn't mean someone else hadn't already done so, or that Apple internally found the regression that caused this, and fixed it without an external report.
Ok thx. Hope it’s the former. Otherwise, sloppy to allow the bug and sloppily lacking documentation of the fix. Gotta tighten things up a bit in Cupertino.
 
So you'd have to already have some sort of access to the machine to deactivate security updates and then hope nobody notices and wait for exploits coming out for older OS versions that you can exploit, while you already have access to the machine anyway?

Am I the only one thinking that this issue is not that serious?

Yes, it does make Apple look completely stupid failing to implement a working password request, but it's not dangerous.

This access is so trivial, that it is unlocked by default within an admin account. The bug is that, if you choose to override the default and lock it, the lock is pointless.
 
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One more reason I chose to leave macOS in 2017. iOS is a much better platform for me moving forward. Has everything I need and a bright future ahead. We need a ground up rework of macOS - based on iOS.

Spoken like a true expert on the subject.

You know, one _could_ blame iOS for the problems that macOS is experiencing. :p

But at the end of the day, Apple dev teams are failing. Changes to established features are going unchecked. This is a serious breach of standard development protocol.
 
I guess people asking for a password - requires by Apple’s OS - to work is something strange?



Since when the missteps of another company/individual matter in the analysis of own’s missteps?
Nobody said asking for a password is too much.

But for someone to have access to this bug, they have to have had the password in the first place. As in, this won’t be exploited and isn’t as bad as these people freaking out make it seem.
 
These corporations are only presenting you with the illusion of privacy and safety. None of them are. It's just now not only has the curtain to OZ been pulled aside, he's literally yelling directly at you that this isn't real.
 
I don't know, I feel like they are more on top of iOS security. More slips through the cracks on the macOS side. You're right though, I think it's an overall issue with Apple right now.


Because they care much less about the Mac and it isn't anywhere near as locked down as iOS so there is much more scope for security issues . The quality levels on iOS aren't much better. Regular scam apps hitting the App Store, the general lag/bugginess of iOS 11 even on the latest hardware etc.

There just seems to be a general complacency and lack of quality control about most things they do these days.

I think 2018 should see no major new Apple OS releases. Get all OS's rock solid, secure and optimised. I'd happily sacrifice new features for those things. Apple needs to rebuild the trust in 'it just works'.

Agree. These annual OS updates really do more harm than good.
 
Nobody said asking for a password is too much.

But for someone to have access to this bug, they have to have had the password in the first place. As in, this won’t be exploited and isn’t as bad as these people freaking out make it seem.

To me, it's not about the seriousness of this one oversight. It's how this system-level protection mechanism is so fragile, and why developers are messing around with it.... 16 years later.

Apple needs to do a complete top-to-bottom review of this to find out what is going on. Something needs to change so things like this can't break so easily without being noticed. It's not just about someone in QA _trying_ to make it break through random actions.
 
Most are missing this point. If someone can access your admin account, changing your App Store preferences (which can't really do anything bad) is the very least of your worries.
I think most are missing that point because it actually isn't the point at all. The point is, and most aren't missing it btw, Apple's level of software QA/QC has been subpar lately. Software issues big and small, across iOS and MacOS have been highlighted within the last month or so. Are these issues indicative of what to expect from Apple software? One would hope not, but recent history indicates it's possible.

The point that you're making only seems to be of consequence for those looking to excuse this latest issue.
 
What the hell is happening to this company?

All that cash they generate, they can spend a few bucks on their QC game?

Apple cares about security my ass.
 
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A tad bit disturbing because it's so blatant and Apple has stated security is a feature of its products. These type of basic omissions belie its claims. Feels like Mac OS is becoming Windows with all these security patch updates. Maybe Apple needs to slow down here a bit and get back to basics.

I agree about slowing down. Ever since they went to the annual major revision schedule, the quality and stability of the releases had gotten considerably worse. They don't need to update OSX every year - they don't need to update it every other year even. Microsoft isn't releasing a major revision that often, so what is the rush?

Just update the component apps as needed to maintain compatibility and consistency across the lineup (e.g., update the Messages app with whatever you need for make it work with iOS). Then release a major OSX revision when you actually have something worth releasing.
 
No, because the settings there can be directly accessed anyway. That prompt is pure theatre.

No, because the things behind this prompt were never protected anyway. They're just plist files. This is the nature of authorization: the user is authorized to make those changes. Authenticated or not, they're still authorized. There's no real security check here (and never has been), just the illusion of one.
Then there are two serious bugs. They sum, or maybe coalesce if one leads to the other, but they don’t cancel.

Apple thinks they have a working password box, but they don’t, and Apple thinks they’re protecting something with that password request that they aren’t.

The danger here isn’t in the outcome (access to minor, unprotected settings) but in the process. They failed in achieving their intended security outcome and didn’t detect it. If it involves a password it should be held to a higher standard.
 
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Because they care much less about the Mac and it isn't anywhere near as locked down as iOS so there is much more scope for security issues . The quality levels on iOS aren't much better. Regular scam apps hitting the App Store, the general lag/bugginess of iOS 11 even on the latest hardware etc.

There just seems to be a general complacency and lack of quality control about most things they do these days.



Agree. These annual OS updates really do more harm than good.

I don't see that at all. iOS 11 has been great for me since around beta 3, even better on the iPad. Runs great on my X and iPad Pro 10.5.
 
"Has everything I need and a bright future ahead."

So you did not need a computer in the first place?

I wish I could go only iOS apps, however there are half a dozen (at least) Mac Apps that I need to do my job and no current iOS can fill in.

I totally agree Apple has been sloppy lately with macOS and while I don't see this is really serious from a security perspective, it is still going to be bad press for 2-3 days and then the world will forget about it.

macOS is a complex OS, just like many other OS'es and just like all others it can and will have security bugs. I can't go to iOS only and nothing Apple has done with macOS would make want to go with Windows again.

No, of course I did. I manage a virtual team of 60 people in the logistics industry using my iPad Pro. Perfect for email, video conferencing, OneNote, Word documents, research, etc. I have only run into some minor issues that required some more difficult workarounds, but the advantages iOS and the iPad bring me outweigh those easily. I am fully aware that this is a specific use case, but yea it works great for me. I think iOS has a brighter future than macOS, aside from developers (right now).
 
THIS WILL BE THE END OF THE WORLD!

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO APPLE LATELY!? IF SOMEONE HAD ACCESS TO MY MACHINE THEY COULD CHANGE A COUPLE FAIRLY MEANINGLESS APP STORE PREFERENCES!!!!

You are always defending Apple regardless of the severity of the defect. If Apple decided to guard something with a password they though it was important. Well, they failed. Again.
 
This is what Apple needs as a leader...


Mr. Jobs reportedly asked the assembled engineers and other MobileMe team members, “Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?” When one of those employees then volunteered a satisfactory answer, Mr. Jobs followed up with, “So why the **** doesn’t it do that?”

20110509jobswtf.png
 
Am I looking through rose-tinted glasses, but did we ever see so many issues -- big and small -- consistently populating the Apple ecosystem between, say, 2000 and when TC took over?
 
I think most are missing that point because it actually isn't the point at all. The point is, and most aren't missing it btw, Apple's level of software QA/QC has been subpar lately. Software issues big and small, across iOS and MacOS have been highlighted within the last month or so. Are these issues indicative of what to expect from Apple software? One would hope not, but recent history indicates it's possible.

The point that you're making only seems to be of consequence for those looking to excuse this latest issue.
I’d rather this error than Microsoft’s pulling of the Spectre and Meltdown fix update because it bricked computers with AMD chips.
 
THIS WILL BE THE END OF THE WORLD!

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO APPLE LATELY!? IF SOMEONE HAD ACCESS TO MY MACHINE THEY COULD CHANGE A COUPLE FAIRLY MEANINGLESS APP STORE PREFERENCES!!!!
It doesn't matter - it shows how SLOPPY they are getting. Steve Jobs would've decapitated the entire security team personally for this. Not impressed, Apple. Lots of other bugs and annoyances getting through lately, as well. Lots of apps you can get out of, silly procedures, etc. I'm the worlds largest Mac fanboy, been on Apple since 1999, but the last year or two have been very very messy for them.

SMARTEN UP, APPLE!

Not impressed,
Cameron Hood
 
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