Wired reports that Apple will release the iOS 18 update on Wednesday morning to close the security vulnerabilities exploited by the DarkSword hack. What does this mean?

In the past few weeks, Apple has released multiple updates for older iOS versions to address two vulnerabilities known as Coruna, which affects devices running iOS 13 to iOS 17.2.1, and DarkSword, which affects iPhones running iOS 18.4-18.7.

In short, both vulnerabilities combined multiple security flaws to compromise devices running older operating system versions. In most cases, they leveraged WebKit vulnerabilities as an entry point to escalate the attack from there.

Apple's response has been to release the following updates:

  • iOS 15.8.7 and iPadOS 15.8.7: iPhone 6s (all models), iPhone 7 (all models), iPhone SE (1st generation), iPad Air 2, iPad mini (4th generation), and iPod touch (7th generation).
  • iOS 16.7.15 and iPadOS 16.7.15: iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPad 5th generation, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, and iPad Pro 12.9-inch 1st generation.
  • iOS 18.7.7 and iPadOS 18.7.7: iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPad 7th generation.

You may have noticed that Apple has patched iOS 18, but only for devices that cannot run iOS 26.

In practice, this means that devices compatible with iOS 26 but not updated for any reason remain vulnerable.

Therefore, Apple confirmed to Wired that it will release an updated iOS 18 version containing the same protections against the DarkSword vulnerability that is already present in iOS 26:

Apple now seems to have shifted its position to protect these devices. "Tomorrow, we are making the iOS 18 update available for more devices so that users with automatic updates enabled can automatically receive important security protections," said an Apple spokesperson in a statement to WIRED. "We encourage all users with supported devices to update to iOS 26 to receive our most advanced protections."

According to Wired, users with automatic updates turned off will have "the option to either update to the latest patched iOS 18 version or to iOS 26."

Following the release of DarkSword on GitHub last week, this was a pleasant step for Apple and made the vulnerability more accessible.

So, if you or someone you know is still using iOS 18, don’t forget to update the device as soon as the revoked patch is released.

We will follow the update and notify you immediately when it becomes available.

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