APPLE has said it is working to fix a serious bug within its Mac operating system.
A flaw with Mac OS High Sierra has been discovered by a Turkish developer named Lemi Ergin. The flaw allows anyone to gain access as an administrator without a password.
“We are working on a software update to address this issue,” Apple said in a statement. Mr. Ergin found that you can gain access to the machine by putting “root” as a username and leaving the password field blank and pressing “enter” a few times granted full access.
Those with root access can do more than a normal user, such as read and write the files of other accounts on the same machine. A super user could also delete crucial system files, rendering the computer useless or install malware that typical security software would find hard to detect.
The timing of the disclosure presents a major issue to Apple as it now must hurriedly put in place a fix before the vulnerability can be exploited by criminals. While Apple works on its fix, it offered a workaround for users concerned about the bug.
“Setting a root password prevents unauthorized access to your Mac,” the company explained.