A patch isn’t (yet) available.
But a workaround is. Configure your password manager (or switch to another password manager) so it doesn’t automatically fill usernames and passwords as soon as you open a webpage. Set it to fill the credentials when you click a button or hit a hotkey.
And after this security flaw is fixed? Leave the settings like that. Because this isn’t the first time autofil has resulted in a major compromise and it won’t be the last time either.
PS: this speculative execution bug was reported to Apple a very long time ago and there are experimental settings you can change to test the fix… but they might be buggy. Modifying your password manager’s behaviour will not be buggy. The setting is:
defaults write com.apple.safari InternalDebugProcessSwapOnCrossSiteWindowOpenEnabled 1
Oh what a let down. I’m disabling autofill now until it’s fixed.
I never understood the sentiment of many Apple fans around me who bark “Apple products can’t be hacked or infected with viruses!”
Nonetheless, I hope that a security patch will soon be available for those affected.
Do people still say this? This seems like one of those tired things that gets passed around the Internet in the name of “Boo Apple!”
I don’t think I’ve heard any Apple products users of any tech background (or none at all) say since the early 2010s. Yet non-users keep parroting it.
Don’t worry, you just need to buy the next iPhone and Mac ;) – Tim Cook, maybe
/s
