Apple Pulls Rapid Security Responses Due to Website Loading Issues
It turns out that the website loading issues reported by Will Mayall in “Rapid Security Responses for iOS/iPadOS 16.5.1 (a) and macOS Ventura 13.4.1 (a)” (10 July 2023) affected websites beyond Facebook, including its sibling site Instagram. Apple has pulled the updates and provided instructions for removing them. In short:
- iPhone or iPad: Navigate to Settings > General > About > iOS Version, and then tap Remove Security Response. Tap Remove to confirm.
- Mac: Go to System Settings > General > About, click the ⓘ next to the macOS version, click Remove & Restart, and confirm the action.
It’s unclear if there’s any reason to remove the updates if you don’t use Safari or any affected websites. I haven’t noticed any other issues.
Those running macOS 12 Monterey and macOS 11 Big Sur should avoid installing Safari 16.5.2 for now. I installed it in a Monterey virtual machine this morning before I read about the problems, and it can’t load Facebook or Instagram.
No " click the ⓘ next to the macOS version" exists next to mine>
FWIW, FB now loads properly with Safari for me. I had installed the RSR yesterday and had FB then show me the limited version. I did not remove RSR and FB now works as it did before the install.
This is a feature, not a bug.
We do not use any of the Twitter - Instagram type software so have left the patches in the M1 gear and the update Safari on our Intel 16” MacBook Pros.
Same here, with both macOS and iOS. (I hadn’t checked iOS before, so I don’t know if it was affected.)
Not surprising that the RSR package cannot tell the difference between Facebook and a malicious website!
You do have to wonder how Apple tests their releases. While I personally don’t use any of this social media stuff and don’t consider this Apple’s bug so much as Meta’s sloppy website code, the fact that Apple pulls the RSR right after release tells me they don’t have faith in their own release.
So if they consider this a problem worthy of stopping the release, how in the hell did they not see this coming? Do they test any of this stuff in a real-world environment before releasing it onto hundreds of millions of devices? We’re not talking obscure combinations of customizable high-end software packages with exotic legacy hardware. This is Facebook for crying out loud. Does Apple seriously not test Safari against the likes of Facebook? Although I’d never get close to that, I also know that 3B daily users disagree with me there. So why does Apple not account for what amounts to a factor 3 greater than their entire installed base?
Can’t say too much, but can assure you that it was tested multiple times and the issues that arose yesterday were not seen during any of the testing. I’m told that Facebook made changes at their end today that allowed it to work with users who still had RSR installed, so sounds like they did something on their end to create the problem between the time it was tested and yesterday.
It hasn’t impacted me (I’m not a big social media website person) but I would have the same issue as @djbonline in that no “i” icon appears next to the macOS version when I follow Apple’s instructions. Clicking on the “Version 13.4.1” that I currently see there adds the “(22F82)” detail but gives no ability to roll back an update.
I’m running an M1 based Mac Studio.
I think you missed a step. Don’t click on the version number when the About This Mac dialog comes up, click on “More Info” to bring up the System Information . Now find MacOS and you will see the circled “i”.
The rapid security response changes the version to 13.4.1(a) and clicking reveals “(22F770820b)”, so it looks like you haven’t installed it.
Thanks @ddmiller - I guess that the “i” option only appears for rapid security response installs and normal OS updates don’t allow uninstallation.
This is what you should see. You can only remove Rapid Security Responses.
Same here, but Instagram won’t even fall back on a mobile version still (at least the login page).
Facebook: “Go fast and break things.”
(There are a few people I met on Facebook that I miss talking to. Otherwise, Mark can go Zuck himself…)
It’s a few days later, July 15; My MacBook currently shows macOS Ventura 13.4.1(c). There is an option to remove it but I’m confused as to whether or not I need to do so. I rarely use social media so that’s not my issue, I merely want to be certain my macOS isn’t one w/issues. Is Ventura 13.4.1(c) an updated version that no longer causes rapid security responses problems?
Thank you!
That’s fine, just leave it at c. That means you won’t suffer any issues (that some saw with a) and it gives you the Webkit security update you’d want.
Thanks very much. I was getting a bit confused as there seemed to be so many versions of 13.4.1; just needed to be certain that the (c) version was alright.
Appreciate your assistance.