A German security firm has released an unauthorized patch for Apple that it claims fixes a vulnerability that the Cupertino, California-based giant left wide open when implementing the operating system's basic encryption.
SektionEins GmbH released the patch on Saturday, the day after Apple updated its iOS 7 and iOS 6 mobile operating systems to fix a vulnerability in the handling of SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and TLS (transport layer security). These protocols create an encrypted connection between a personal computer and a server – such as at Amazon.com – so eavesdroppers can’t read the traffic and get information like credit card numbers or login credentials.
According to several security researchers, including SektionEins, OS X Mavericks contains the same critical vulnerability. SektionEins' blog details the vulnerability and provides a link to the unofficial patch.
