macOS Ventura 13.3 arrives with new emoji, Trackpad fixes, security updates

Macworld

Following several rumors from credible sources that claim Apple is preparing to launch a 15-inch MacBook Air in April, as well as the looming release of the first Apple silicon-based Mac Pro, Apple has released the macOS 13.3 update.

The 13.3 update follows the general release of macOS Ventura 13.2 on January 23, which included nearly two dozen security updates and support for physical FIDO-certified security keys. Apple released macOS Ventura 13.2.1 in mid-February with three more critical security fixes, including one for a WebKit vulnerability that could lead to arbitrary code execution.

macOS 13.3 release notes

Below are Applke’s release notes.

This update includes new emoji along with other enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates for your Mac.• 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard• Remove background option in Freeform automatically isolates the subject in your image• Photos duplicates album expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library• Transliteration support for Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu keyboards• New keyboard layouts for Choctaw, Chickasaw, Akan, Hausa, and Yoruba• Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected• VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app• Resolves an issue where Trackpad gestures may occasionally stop responding• Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent’s device• Addresses an issue where VoiceOver may be unresponsive after using Finder

macOS Ventura 13.3: How to install

Click on the Apple menu and select System Settings.Select General in the left sidebar.Select Software Update in the main section of the window.Your Mac will check online for any available updates. If the update is available, a description will appear. Click on the Update Now button to start the installation. The update will download to your Mac and the installer will run. The Mac will need to restart to complete the installation.

macOS Ventura 13.3 security release notes

Apple’s security updates page includes details on the security updates in 13.3. Below are the security notes.

AMD

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination or write kernel memory

Description: A buffer overflow issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

CVE-2023-27968: ABC Research s.r.o.

Apple Neural Engine

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to break out of its sandbox

Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.

CVE-2023-23532: Mohamed Ghannam (@_simo36)

AppleMobileFileIntegrity

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: A user may gain access to protected parts of the file system

Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.

CVE-2023-23527: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)

AppleMobileFileIntegrity

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to access user-sensitive data

Description: This issue was addressed by removing the vulnerable code.

CVE-2023-27931: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)

Archive Utility

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An archive may be able to bypass Gatekeeper

Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.

CVE-2023-27951: Brandon Dalton of Red Canary and Csaba Fitzl (@theevilbit) of Offensive Security

Calendar

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Importing a maliciously crafted calendar invitation may exfiltrate user information

Description: Multiple validation issues were addressed with improved input sanitization.

CVE-2023-27961: Rıza Sabuncu – twitter.com/rizasabuncu

Camera

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: A sandboxed app may be able to determine which app is currently using the camera

Description: The issue was addressed with additional restrictions on the observability of app states.

CVE-2023-23543: Yiğit Can YILMAZ (@yilmazcanyigit)

Carbon Core

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted image may result in disclosure of process memory

Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.

CVE-2023-23534: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)

ColorSync

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to read arbitrary files

Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.

CVE-2023-27955: JeongOhKyea

CommCenter

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination or write kernel memory

Description: An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved input validation.

CVE-2023-27936: Tingting Yin of Tsinghua University

CoreCapture

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges

Description: The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

CVE-2023-28181: Tingting Yin of Tsinghua University

curl

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Multiple issues in curl

Description: Multiple issues were addressed by updating curl.

CVE-2022-43551

CVE-2022-43552

dcerpc

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: A remote user may be able to cause unexpected app termination or arbitrary code execution

Description: A memory initialization issue was addressed.

CVE-2023-27934: Aleksandar Nikolic of Cisco Talos

dcerpc

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: A user in a privileged network position may be able to cause a denial-of-service

Description: A denial-of-service issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

CVE-2023-28180: Aleksandar Nikolic of Cisco Talos

dcerpc

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: A remote user may be able to cause unexpected app termination or arbitrary code execution

Description: The issue was addressed with improved bounds checks.

CVE-2023-27935: Aleksandar Nikolic of Cisco Talos

dcerpc

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: A remote user may be able to cause unexpected system termination or corrupt kernel memory

Description: The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

CVE-2023-27953: Aleksandar Nikolic of Cisco Talos

CVE-2023-27958: Aleksandar Nikolic of Cisco Talos

Display

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges

Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved state management.

CVE-2023-27965: Proteas of Pangu Lab

FaceTime

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to access user-sensitive data

Description: A privacy issue was addressed by moving sensitive data to a more secure location.

CVE-2023-28190: Joshua Jones

Find My

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to read sensitive location information

Description: A privacy issue was addressed with improved private data redaction for log entries.

CVE-2023-23537: an anonymous researcher

FontParser

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted image may result in disclosure of process memory

Description: The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

CVE-2023-27956: Ye Zhang of Baidu Security

Foundation

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Parsing a maliciously crafted plist may lead to an unexpected app termination or arbitrary code execution

Description: An integer overflow was addressed with improved input validation.

CVE-2023-27937: an anonymous researcher

iCloud

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: A file from an iCloud shared-by-me folder may be able to bypass Gatekeeper

Description: This was addressed with additional checks by Gatekeeper on files downloaded from an iCloud shared-by-me folder.

CVE-2023-23526: Jubaer Alnazi of TRS Group of Companies

Identity Services

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to access information about a user’s contacts

Description: A privacy issue was addressed with improved private data redaction for log entries.

CVE-2023-27928: Csaba Fitzl (@theevilbit) of Offensive Security

ImageIO

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted image may result in disclosure of process memory

Description: The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

CVE-2023-23535: ryuzaki

ImageIO

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted image may result in disclosure of process memory

Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation.

CVE-2023-27929: Meysam Firouzi (@R00tkitSMM) of Mbition Mercedes-Benz Innovation Lab and jzhu working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative

ImageIO

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted file may lead to unexpected app termination or arbitrary code execution

Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved bounds checking.

CVE-2023-27946: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)

ImageIO

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted file may lead to unexpected app termination or arbitrary code execution

Description: A buffer overflow issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

CVE-2023-27957: Yiğit Can YILMAZ (@yilmazcanyigit)

Kernel

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges

Description: A use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management.

CVE-2023-23514: Xinru Chi of Pangu Lab, Ned Williamson of Google Project Zero

CVE-2023-27969: Adam Doupé of ASU SEFCOM

Kernel

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app with root privileges may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges

Description: The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

CVE-2023-27933: sqrtpwn

Kernel

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to disclose kernel memory

Description: An out-of-bounds read issue existed that led to the disclosure of kernel memory. This was addressed with improved input validation.

CVE-2023-27941: Arsenii Kostromin (0x3c3e)

Kernel

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to disclose kernel memory

Description: A validation issue was addressed with improved input sanitization.

CVE-2023-28200: Arsenii Kostromin (0x3c3e)

LaunchServices

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Files downloaded from the internet may not have the quarantine flag applied

Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.

CVE-2023-27943: an anonymous researcher, Brandon Dalton, Milan Tenk, and Arthur Valiev

LaunchServices

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to gain root privileges

Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.

CVE-2023-23525: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)

Model I/O

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted file may lead to unexpected app termination or arbitrary code execution

Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation.

CVE-2023-27949: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)

NetworkExtension

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: A user in a privileged network position may be able to spoof a VPN server that is configured with EAP-only authentication on a device

Description: The issue was addressed with improved authentication.

CVE-2023-28182: Zhuowei Zhang

PackageKit

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to modify protected parts of the file system

Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved checks.

CVE-2023-23538: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)

CVE-2023-27962: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)

Photos

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Photos belonging to the Hidden Photos Album could be viewed without authentication through Visual Lookup

Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved restrictions.

CVE-2023-23523: developStorm

Podcasts

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to access user-sensitive data

Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.

CVE-2023-27942: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)

Safari

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may bypass Gatekeeper checks

Description: A race condition was addressed with improved locking.

CVE-2023-27952: Csaba Fitzl (@theevilbit) of Offensive Security

Sandbox

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to modify protected parts of the file system

Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved checks.

CVE-2023-23533: Mickey Jin (@patch1t), Koh M. Nakagawa of FFRI Security, Inc., and Csaba Fitzl (@theevilbit) of Offensive Security

Sandbox

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to bypass Privacy preferences

Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved validation.

CVE-2023-28178: Yiğit Can YILMAZ (@yilmazcanyigit)

Shortcuts

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: A shortcut may be able to use sensitive data with certain actions without prompting the user

Description: The issue was addressed with additional permissions checks.

CVE-2023-27963: Jubaer Alnazi Jabin of TRS Group Of Companies, and Wenchao Li and Xiaolong Bai of Alibaba Group

System Settings

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to access user-sensitive data

Description: A privacy issue was addressed with improved private data redaction for log entries.

CVE-2023-23542: an anonymous researcher

System Settings

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to read sensitive location information

Description: A permissions issue was addressed with improved validation.

CVE-2023-28192: Guilherme Rambo of Best Buddy Apps (rambo.codes)

TCC

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to access user-sensitive data

Description: This issue was addressed by removing the vulnerable code.

CVE-2023-27931: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)

Vim

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Multiple issues in Vim

Description: Multiple issues were addressed by updating to Vim version 9.0.1191.

CVE-2023-0049

CVE-2023-0051

CVE-2023-0054

CVE-2023-0288

CVE-2023-0433

CVE-2023-0512

WebKit

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may bypass Same Origin Policy

Description: This issue was addressed with improved state management.

CVE-2023-27932: an anonymous researcher

WebKit

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: A website may be able to track sensitive user information

Description: The issue was addressed by removing origin information.

CVE-2023-27954: an anonymous researcher

XPC

Available for: macOS Ventura

Impact: An app may be able to break out of its sandbox

Description: This issue was addressed with a new entitlement.

CVE-2023-27944: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)

Additional recognition

Activation Lock

We would like to acknowledge Christian Mina for their assistance.

AppleScript

We would like to acknowledge Mickey Jin (@patch1t) for their assistance.

CFNetwork

We would like to acknowledge an anonymous researcher for their assistance.

Control Center

We would like to acknowledge an anonymous researcher for their assistance.

CoreServices

We would like to acknowledge Mickey Jin (@patch1t) for their assistance.

dcerpc

We would like to acknowledge Aleksandar Nikolic of Cisco Talos for their assistance.

FaceTime

We would like to acknowledge Sajan Karki for their assistance.

file_cmds

We would like to acknowledge Lukas Zronek for their assistance.

Git

We would like to acknowledge for their assistance.

Heimdal

We would like to acknowledge Evgeny Legerov of Intevydis for their assistance.

ImageIO

We would like to acknowledge Meysam Firouzi @R00tkitSMM for their assistance.

Mail

We would like to acknowledge Chen Zhang, Fabian Ising of FH Münster University of Applied Sciences, Damian Poddebniak of FH Münster University of Applied Sciences, Tobias Kappert of Münster University of Applied Sciences, Christoph Saatjohann of Münster University of Applied Sciences, Sebast, and Merlin Chlosta of CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security for their assistance.

NSOpenPanel

We would like to acknowledge Alexandre Colucci (@timacfr) for their assistance.

quarantine

We would like to acknowledge Koh M. Nakagawa of FFRI Security, Inc. for their assistance.

Safari Downloads

We would like to acknowledge Andrew Gonzalez for their assistance.

WebKit

We would like to acknowledge an anonymous researcher for their assistance.

WebKit Web Inspector

We would like to acknowledge Dohyun Lee (@l33d0hyun) and crixer (@pwning_me) of SSD Labs for their assistance.

Wi-Fi

We would like to acknowledge an anonymous researcher for their assistance.

MacOS