hoakley June 21, 2023 Macs, Technology, Updates

Apple has released macOS Ventura 13.4.1, Monterey 12.6.7 and Big Sur 11.7.8 updates

Apple has just released urgent security updates to bring macOS Ventura to version 13.4.1, Monterey to 12.6.7 and Big Sur to 11.7.8. These fix a vulnerability in the kernel which is believed to have been actively exploited, at least in iOS, and a serious vulnerability in WebKit that has been part of the same exploit.

Details of the updates are here for Ventura, here for Monterey, and here for Big Sur.

For Monterey and Big Sur, the WebKit vulnerability is fixed in a Safari update to 16.5.1, also available now.

macOS Monterey build number is now 22F82. There is no update to iBoot firmware on Apple silicon Macs, but T2 Intel Macs have a small increment in their iBridge version to read 1968.120.12.0.0 (iBridge: 20.16.5060.0.0,0).

The 13.4.1 update is around 1.88 GB in size on Apple silicon (although some are reporting significantly less than 1 GB), and just over 1 GB on Intel.

Updated 0525 GMT 22 June 2023.

27Comments

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1

Bruce on June 21, 2023 at 6:05 pm

My update on Apple Silicon for 16″MBP M1 Pro chip is 770MB…. so IDK….

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- 2
  
  hoakley on June 21, 2023 at 7:53 pm
  
  Thank you.
  Just to check, I updated one of my VMs from 13.4 to 13.4.1, and the download size was 1.88 GB once again.
  Maybe you’re only getting the Lite and not the Pro version 🙂
  Howard.
  
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3

Cameron on June 21, 2023 at 7:46 pm

13.4.1 for Mac Studio (M2 Ultra) shows as 494.5 MB.

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- 4
  
  hoakley on June 21, 2023 at 7:54 pm
  
  Thank you. Just when we all thought that Apple silicon Mac updates were all identical – my 1.88 GB was for a Studio M1 Max. Perhaps with more cores, you need less update? 🙂
  Howard.
  
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5

Jeremy Carr on June 21, 2023 at 9:16 pm

1.88 GB for 1st edition M1 MacBook Pro.

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- 6
  
  hoakley on June 22, 2023 at 5:41 am
  
  Thank you.
  This seems almost random – maybe it’s the update server that’s just trying to confuse us?
  Howard.
  
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7

Maurizio on June 22, 2023 at 6:35 am

maybe i’m getting old , but, is the beta program offered at all now ? or only to those who have used seedutil in the past or only to those who have used their appleid in the developer program?

https://ibb.co/vBs6NP9

ps. MB Air M2 770 MB

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- 8
  
  hoakley on June 22, 2023 at 8:35 am
  
  Yes it is.
  Currently, betas are available to paid-up developers, and to those who have registered their Apple ID with Apple. The fact that your being offer the option there suggests that you can enable it, if you want to.
  The first public beta is expected in the next couple of weeks too.
  Howard.
  
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  - 9
    
    Maurizio on June 22, 2023 at 8:40 am
    
    thanks , now i have to discover how to get out from the developer program.
    
    my best regards
    
    Maurizio
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
    - 10
      
      hoakley on June 22, 2023 at 8:45 am
      
      You don’t need to: simply ignore the offer of beta releases. I only ever test betas for one period of the year (the summer) on one of my Macs, but each of them offers betas. I just ignore them, and only download the ones that I want on the Mac I want to test them on.
      Howard.
      
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11

Andrew Berry on June 22, 2023 at 12:26 pm

I was surprised this wasn’t an RSR. I guess they can’t patch kernel vulnerabilities that way?

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- 12
  
  hoakley on June 22, 2023 at 3:01 pm
  
  That’s an interesting question. When I first heard about RSRs, I speculated whether they would be able to patch the kernel, and expected not. However some of the RSR mechanism’s support files even refer to patching firmware, so maybe Apple’s engineers have higher expectations in the future. But for the moment, I think kernel patches will continue to require updates not RSRs.
  Howard.
  
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13

Robin K on June 22, 2023 at 6:28 pm

I just noticed that after 13.14.1 installation I updated XProtect and XPR to 2168 and 101 respectively. SilentNight 2 now states that they should be at 2167 and 99 respectively.

I am not sure what action to take at this point. Is this an error from SilentNight 2?

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- 14
  
  hoakley on June 22, 2023 at 6:44 pm
  
  Sorry – I checked an hour ago, and there were no updates. However, they have since appeared and if you’d like to run SilentKnight again, you should see everything is in order.
  Apple doesn’t tell me when it releases updates – I have to check and find out for myself, then update the database etc.
  Howard.
  
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15

Robin K on June 22, 2023 at 9:14 pm

Of course. Rookie error. Thanks for creating the lovely tools you do. Our family’s Mac are better managed once we discovered eclectic light.

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- 16
  
  hoakley on June 22, 2023 at 9:43 pm
  
  Thank you.
  It has been a bit hectic for the last day or two!
  Howard.
  
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17

Nick on June 23, 2023 at 6:56 am

Has anyone else who uses Synology SMB shares (and possibly other SMB servers as well) noticed that 13.4.1 has fixed the continual un-mounting of shares that was seemingly introduced with 13.4? This was definitely a problem for me with 13.4, and (so far at least) seems like it may have been fixed with 13.4.1.

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- 18
  
  hoakley on June 23, 2023 at 7:08 am
  
  That’s odd, as the only changes in 13.4.1 are the two security fixes, which don’t have anything to do with SMB. So I don’t understand how that could have changed anything.
  Howard.
  
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- 19
  
  hoakley on June 23, 2023 at 7:23 am
  
  FYI, the version of SMB shipped with 13.4 and 13.4.1 is 5.0. There has been no change, and no evidence of any change in supporting files (which would in any case be reflected in a version change in the file system itself).
  Howard.
  
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  - 20
    
    Nick on June 25, 2023 at 9:41 am
    
    I totally accept what you say, but there has definitely been a difference since the update with SMB shares staying mounted, at least on my system, and nothing else has changed that I am aware of.
    
    Is it possible that one of the security fixes has also fixed something else, maybe inadvertently, that broke in 13.4 which was causing the shares to unmount?
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
    - 21
      
      hoakley on June 25, 2023 at 12:10 pm
      
      The fixes detailed by Apple are quite specific, and neither would appear to have anything to do with SMB.
      I think what you’re experiencing is serendipity: maybe in the reboot at the end of the 13.4.1 update, one of the writeable files involved with your SMB connection became changed (independently of the update), and that did the trick. The snag is that others who might have the same problem might not see the same fix, as it was probably coincidence.
      But rejoice – the problem has gone now, which is the important thing.
      Howard.
      
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22

charlie on June 23, 2023 at 10:38 am

13.4.1 for 15″ 2018 Intel MBP (MacBookPro15,1) is reporting as 501.2 MB (in theory it is already downloaded as I have the download updates option checked).

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- 23
  
  hoakley on June 23, 2023 at 12:12 pm
  
  Thank you.
  Howard.
  
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24

WERNER Andreas on July 4, 2023 at 5:53 am

I have an iMac 18,2 with 13.3.1 (22E261). No update to 13.4.1 available. I have checked all options. “sudo softwareupdate –list –verbose –force” results in “Finding available software” and “No new software available.” Can 13.4.1 be downloaded and installed manually?
iMac 18,2 still eligible.

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- 25
  
  hoakley on July 4, 2023 at 7:27 am
  
  This is extremely strange. Have you (or Apple) replaced the storage or logic board inside that Mac? Has its firmware updated OK previously?
  I think it’s worth contacting Apple Support, as this suggests a problem that they need to know about.
  Ensure that you’ve got good recent backups (just in case you need to migrate from them), download the Ventura installer from the App Store, and that should upgrade your Mac to 13.4.1, normally retaining your current Data volume.
  Howard.
  
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  - 26
    
    WERNER Andreas on July 4, 2023 at 11:42 am
    
    No change to HW. Ventura system volume is on external SSD. This caused no problem till now. Update 13.3.1 was installed this way hassle free. “softwareupdate –history” confirms 13.3.1 installed.
    Chat with Apple support ends to reinstall Ventura. I won’t. macOS on iMac 18,2 is EOL.
    Tried also with internet connection via mobile phone. No change.
    As soon as “sudo softwareupdate –list –verbose –force” is launched, process “softwareupdated” establishes connection TCP6 to xxxxx.deploy.static.akam port443 and about 128/62 KiB are transferred. SilentKnight 2.6 only asks to update EFI from 509 to 512, but this should come with 13.4.1 – everything else ok.
    
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    - 27
      
      hoakley on July 4, 2023 at 12:29 pm
      
      Thank you. This is strange, but the full installer should still update that external SSD perfectly well.
      Howard.
      
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