Apple released the latest iOS 15.3, iPadOS 15.3, and macOS Monterey 12.2 updates to the public, including various bug fixes and performance improvements to Apple devices. We have reported on the changes earlier today if you missed it. The new updates focus on one critical security flaw, which affected Apple’s own software, Safari.

The Safari bug was discovered and widely reported in the middle of January, and it was a rather serious bug in the Apple ecosystem. The bug allowed the Safari web browser to leak a user’s browsing history and activity, leaking personal and private information. The bug also shared some information from a linked Google account, if the user was signed in.

The software bug allowed websites to track users with their signed-in Google accounts. The bug allowed IndexedDB (an API that stores data in the browser) to provide access to websites, and share personal information of a user’s activity, Google account information, and more. The IndexedDB database is never shared publicly, and it doesn’t publish personal information, but a vulnerability was able to target a flaw in the system and gather information.

It’s also important to note that the bug doesn’t require the user to enter any personal information, or trigger any action, it works by default. If you rely on Safari on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac devices, it’s recommended that you update right away to prevent any malicious activity and to protect your private information. The bug affected all devices running Safari 15 on iOS 15, macOS Monterey, and iPadOS devices, since all of those are using Apple’s open-source WebKit engine (and third-party browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge are also required to use that engine on iPhone and iPad).

"a tab or window that runs in the background and continually queries the IndexedDB API for available databases can learn what other websites a user visits in real-time. Alternatively, websites can open any website in an iframe or popup window in order to trigger an IndexedDB-based leak for that specific site."

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