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After hours of rolling out Rapid Security Response (RSR) updates, Apple pulled them after reports of a bug in Safari, causing websites to experience problems. The Cupertino company says in a recent document that it will have another update to address the issue, though affected users can also choose to roll back the RSR.
This week, Apple released iOS 16.5.1 (a), iPadOS 16.5.1 (a), and macOS 13.4.1 (a) RSRs. This kind of update introduces important security improvements between software updates. Apple says Rapid Security Responses can mitigate some security issues more quickly, especially those that might have been exploited or existing in the wild. In the recent RSR updates, Apple included a fix for a problem that “may have been actively exploited” and “may lead to arbitrary code execution.” Unfortunately, the RSR updates caused another issue to devices, causing their Safri browsers not to load. Worse, such an update is automatically applied to devices, and Apple has no way of automatically rolling them back, albeit users can do it manually.
“Recent Rapid Security Responses might prevent some websites from displaying properly,” admits Apple in its latest support document. “Apple is aware of an issue where recent Rapid Security Responses might prevent some websites from displaying properly.”
According to reports, the issue started through the change in the Safari user agent, which now includes an (a). This reportedly caused some websites not to recognize Safari. Fortunately, Apple promises a new fix to resolve this “soon” through new RSR updates: iOS 16.5.1 (b), iPadOS 16.5.1 (b), and macOS 13.4.1 (b).
On the other hand, users also have the option to roll back the updates if they want to resolve this issue now. Just follow the instructions below:
iPhone or iPad: Open Settings > About > iOS Version, then tap “Remove Security Response.” Tap Remove to confirm.
Mac: Choose the Apple menu > About this Mac, then click More Info. Under macOS, click the Info button next to the version number. Click Remove and Restart, then click to confirm.
