The tiny iOS 26.4.2 update that arrived this week is actually a really big deal
Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In abstract:
- Macworld stories that Apple’s iOS 26.4.2 update fixes a vital privateness vulnerability within the system’s push notification system that retained deleted messages.
- The FBI exploited this flaw to get well deleted Signal messages from an iPhone by accessing the notification database the place content material was unexpectedly saved.
- Signal customers and privacy-conscious people ought to update instantly to iOS 26.4.2 to stop unauthorized entry to their supposedly deleted communications.
Earlier this week, Apple released iOS 26.4.2, which, according to Appleconsists of solely a single safety patch for “Notification Services.” While it appeared like a pretty innocuous repair for deleted notifications that “could be unexpectedly retained on the device,” it seems that the flaw is a larger deal than it appears.
According to The Hacker Newsthe vulnerability was utilized by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in a case in Texas. The FBI exploited the flaw to get Signal messages from a defendant’s iPhone, though Signal had been deleted from the system. The website stories that the deleted messages have been retrieved in reference to an assault on the Prairieland ICE detention center facility after the app was deleted, by profiting from copies of the content material saved within the system’s push notification database.
signal is a messaging app with elevated privateness controls, together with end-to-end encryption, computerized message deletion, message historical past saved on-device as an alternative of on servers, and code verification of messages. Signal is typically utilized by journalists, government officialsand different customers who need elevated safety.
The flaw was essential sufficient to Apple that it issued the iOS 26.4.2 update simply to repair the vulnerability. If you might be a Signal consumer, you must set up the update as quickly as doable (Settings > General > Software Update). The iPhone might want to restart. Learn more about iOS 26 in our superguide.