New Warning issued To All iPhone users—You Have 20 Days To Update
The U.S. government has issued a new warning to update your iPhone by July 7.
A new iOS 18 update warning has been issued by the U.S. government after an iPhone vulnerability was found to have been used in real-life attacks.
Tracked as CVE-2025-43200, the flaw was fixed in iOS 18.3.1 back in Feb. alongside another already-exploited issue. At the time, this flaw was not listed on Apple's support page, which only included one known fix.
A closer inspection shows that Apple added the second vulnerability on June 11.
The newly-revealed iPhone vulnerability is deemed so serious that the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has issued a warning, giving government agencies until July 7 to apply the iOS 18.3.1 update.
CISA has also added the flaw to its known exploited vulnerabilities catalog.
The CISA warning came as security researchers at Citizen Lab revealed Paragon spyware was targeting iPhone users including journalists. The attacks mentioned in their alert took advantage of the same vulnerability to plant spyware on targets' devices.
The issue was patched in iOS 18.3.1, as well as watchOS 11.3.1, macOS Ventura 13.7.4, iOS 15.8.4 and iPadOS 15.8.4, iOS 16.7.11 and iPadOS 16.7.11, iPadOS 17.7.5, visionOS 2.3.1, macOS Sequoia 15.3.1 and macOS Sonoma 14.7.4.
'A logic issue existed when processing a maliciously crafted photo or video shared via an iCloud Link,' Apple said on its support page. 'Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals.'
The flaw fixed in iOS 18.3.1 is certainly serious, so much so that Apple didn't even mention it in Feb. when it first released the iPhone update. It's therefore important that all iPhone users apply it now.
The CISA warning requires Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies to remediate identified vulnerabilities by the due date to protect networks against active threats.
Although BOD 22-01 only applies to FCEB agencies, CISA 'strongly urges all organizations to reduce their exposure to cyberattacks by prioritizing timely remediation of KEV Catalog vulnerabilities as part of their vulnerability management practice.'
The current iPhone update iOS 18.5 will cover this vulnerability and others that have been discovered in the time after it. But at the very least, you should update to iOS 18.3.1 to keep your iPhone safe from this attack using spyware.
Spyware is very targeted, typically affecting some business users, political figures, dissidents and journalists. It's particularly dangerous because once it's on your device, attackers can potentially see and hear everything you do, including reading encrypted messages on Signal and WhatsApp.
You can use apps such as iVerify to spot spyware — and look out for signs such as your iPhone running slowly or getting very hot. If you do suspect you've been affected by spyware, turning it on and off again can temporarily disrupt it.
With spyware increasingly being used in attacks, it's a good idea to heed CISA's warning. Update your iPhone to iOS 18.3.1 or the latest version as soon as possible and certainly before July 7.
Go to Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to the latest version of iOS now.
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