If you’re an iPhone user and you still have not updated your device to iOS 16.3, then you need to do it now. There is a dangerous bug in the previous versions of iOS 16, which may have given third-party apps access to your private data. Due to a bug in Apple Maps, other apps may have been able to track the user’s location even when they did not share the permission. This is a scary situation. However, Apple has provided a patch to this bug in the iOS 16.3 update, which was rolled out on January 24.
iOS 16.3 fixes the Apple Maps bug
The information regarding the bug patch was revealed in the support documents released by Apple. This is separate from patch notes which comes with every update and a user can see it on the description page itself. The document revealed the following information under the sub-section ‘Maps’.
“Available for: iPhone 8 and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 5th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An app may be able to bypass Privacy preferences
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2023-23503: an anonymous researcher”
A big question that has appeared among users is for how long has this bug existed in the devices and how many apps have taken advantage? According to a report by 9To5Mac, “Brazilian journalist Rodrigo Ghedin reports that iFood, a multibillion dollar Brazilian food delivery app, was found to be accessing a user’s location in iOS 16. 2 even when the user denied the app all location access”. So at least one app was taking advantage of this.
However, answers to those questions are unlikely to be given as Apple has listed the bug in the “reserved” category, which generally implies that details will not be shared till a later date.
So, make sure to quickly update your device to the iOS 16.3 version. You just need to go to Settings > General > Software Update to see the new iOS version which should be ready to download.
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