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If you run Mac OS X Yosemite, don't use an emoji in your password

posted onDecember 17, 2015
by l33tdawg

As at least one poor soul found out the hard way, there's a very good reason that Apple's latest OS X, El Capitan, doesn't let you use an emoji in your login password.

Apple doesn't have the same rule with OS X Yosemite. A user on Stack Exchange's Ask Different forum explained that he had used an emoji in his password on Yosemite — and then wasn't able to log in to his account. He originally posted about it back in August, but it's a PSA worth repeating.

New privilege escalation exploit discovered in OS X Yosemite, also affects just-released 10.10.5

posted onAugust 18, 2015
by l33tdawg
Credit:

Just days after patching the DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE vulnerability with a new OS X point release, Apple's desktop operating system has been hit with yet another zero-day exploit that would allow an attacker to gain root access without using a password.

The exploit was discovered by Italian developer Luca Todesco, who relies on a combination of attacks — including a null pointer dereference in OS X's IOKit — to drop a proof-of-concept payload into a root shell. It affects every version of OS X Yosemite, but seems to have been mitigated in OS X El Capitan, which is nearing release.

Apple seeds second OS X 10.10.5 Yosemite beta to developers with minor changes

posted onJuly 31, 2015
by l33tdawg
Credit:

Apple on Thursday released a second beta build of its upcoming OS X 10.10.5 Yosemite update to developers for testing, including what appears to be only minor tweaks and bug fixes.

The latest beta, build 14F19a, comes a little over two weeks after the first beta version was pushed out to developers and users signed up for Apple's public beta program.

Like the first beta, today's build brings minor tweaks and bug fixes aimed at improving system stability, app compatibility and security.

Get root on an OS X 10.10 Mac: The exploit is so trivial it fits in a tweet

posted onJuly 24, 2015
by l33tdawg

You can bypass Apple's space-age security and gain administrator-level privileges on an OS X Yosemite Mac using code that fits in a tweet.

Yosemite, aka version 10.10, is the latest stable release of the Mac operating system, so a lot of people are affected by this vulnerability. The security bug can be exploited by a logged-in attacker or malware on the computer to gain total unauthorized control of the Mac. It is documented here by iOS and OS X guru Stefan Esser.

Apple releases OS X 10.10.1 with Wi-Fi reliability fixes and more

posted onNovember 17, 2014
by l33tdawg

Apple has released the latest update for OS X Yosemite, version 10.10.1. It contains a number of fixes and improvements to Yosemite You can find OS X 10.10.1 in the Updates section of the Mac App Store.

This update fixes Wi-Fi issues with Yosemite, as well as connections with Microsoft Exchange servers.

Swedish hacker finds 'serious' vulnerability in OS X Yosemite

posted onNovember 5, 2014
by l33tdawg

A white-hat hacker from Sweden says he's found a serious security hole in Apple's Yosemite OS X that could allow an attacker to take control of your computer.

Emil Kvarnhammar, a hacker at Swedish security firm Truesec, calls the vulnerability "rootpipe" and has explained how he found it and how you can protect against it.

5 Ideas Windows 10 Should Copy From Mac OS X Yosemite

posted onOctober 26, 2014
by l33tdawg

Many of Windows 10′s best features showed up in Mac OS X years ago, including virtual desktops, Expose-like window management, and a notification center. Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite has some other ideas Microsoft should copy for version 10 of its own operating system, too.

All operating systems copy from each other, and that’s a good thing. This isn’t about who invented what first — it’s about improving the operating systems billions of people use every day.