Apple rushes to resolve ‘huge’ password glitch on MacOS High Sierra

JOSH EDELSON | AFP | Getty Images

Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi introduces macOS High Sierra during Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in San Jose, California on June 05, 2017.

Apple is scrambling to fix a serious glitch within its latest Mac operating system.

A major flaw in the way the MacOS High Sierra operates means that anyone can gain entry to a computer without the use of a password, obtaining access to powerful administrator rights in the process.

Warnings about the bug were shared by computing experts such as Edward Snowden, who described Apple’s operating system as “really bad” on Tuesday.

In a statement released Wednesday, Apple said: “We are working on a software update to address this issue.”

The bug was first made public by Turkish developer Lemi Ergin. He discovered that by entering the username “root” and leaving the password field blank, he would eventually be able to gain unrestricted access after repeated presses of the log-in button.

Ergin said the glitch was a “huge security issue,” before adding that the end result was “unbelievable.”

In response, the Apple Support Twitter account invited Ergin to message them privately saying, “Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening together.”

Ergin faced criticism for apparently opting not to follow responsible disclosure guidelines typically observed by security experts. These procedures invite professionals to notify them of a security flaw privately in order to allow the firm a reasonable amount of time to fix it before going public.

While Apple works on permanently fixing the problem, the tech giant offered a workaround for users concerned about any possible ramifications on its website.