Apple confirms iOS 18 update to fix DarkSword exploit for iOS 26 holdouts

According to Wired, Apple will release an iOS 18 update on Wednesday morning to patch vulnerabilities exploited by the DarkSword hack. Here’s what that means.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen Apple issue multiple updates to older versions of iOS, addressing two exploits known as Coruna (which affects devices running iOS 13 through iOS 17.2.1) and DarkSword (which affects iPhones running iOS 18.4-18.7).

In a nutshell, both exploits chained multiple vulnerabilities to compromise devices running older OS versions. In most cases, they relied on WebKit exploits as a point of entry and escalated the attack from there.

Apple’s answer was to release:

• 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.

As you probably noticed, Apple did patch iOS 18, but only for devices that can’t run iOS 26.

In practice, this means that devices compatible with iOS 26, but which haven’t been updated, for whatever reason, remain vulnerable.

For that reason, Apple has confirmed to Wired that it will release an updated version of iOS 18 with the same protections against the DarkSword exploit that are already available in iOS 26:

Apple now appears to be changing its position in an effort to protect those holdouts. “Tomorrow we are enabling the availability of an iOS 18 update for more devices so users with auto-update enabled can automatically receive important security protections,” an Apple spokesperson wrote in a statement to WIRED. “We encourage all users with supported devices to update to iOS 26 to receive our most advanced protections.”

Users with auto-update turned off will “have the option to update to either the latest, patched version of iOS 18 or to iOS 26,” according to Wired.

This is a welcome move by Apple, especially after DarkSword was posted to GitHub last week, making the exploit more accessible.

So if you or someone you know is still running iOS 18, be sure to update the device as soon as the backported patch comes out.

We will keep an eye out for the update and will report on it as soon as it becomes available.

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