iOS 15.6 is here with live sports controls and a ton of security and bug fixes

The iOS 16 public beta is already out, but Apple isn’t quite done with iOS 15 yet. Just days after iOS 15.5 arrived, Apple began beta testing iOS 15.6 iPadOS 15.6. It was first made available to developers on May 18, with the public beta following a day later.

Most attention is now focused on iOS 16, which Apple announced at WWDC in June. With iOS 15.6, the only new feature introduced is improved video controls when tuning into live sports. Most of this release focuses on bug fixes and security updates.

Update 7/20/22: iOS 15.6 has been released.

iOS 15.6 Release Notes

This release is very thin on new features including mostly bug fixes only. In addition to what is shown in these release notes, it also includes some security updates.

TV app adds the option to restart and pause a live sports game that is already in progress, rewind or fast forward down or stop responding when navigating text in Mail Fixes an issue in Safari where a tab can return to a previous page

iOS 15.6 security updates

As with the last several iOS updates, iOS 15.6 includes numerous security updates, several that can “run arbitrary code”. Apple has listed more than three dozen updates, including critical updates to WebKit, Wi-Fi, and iCloud Photo Library.

Apple Neural Engine

Available for: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation) Impact: An app may break out of the sandbox Description: this issue was addressed through improved checks.CVE-2022-32845: Mohamed Ghannam (@_simo36)

Apple Neural Engine

Available for Apple Neural Engine devices: iPhone 8 and later, iPad Pro (3rd generation) and later, iPad Air (3rd generation) and later, and iPad mini (5th generation) Impact: An app may execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges Description : This issue was addressed through improved checks.CVE-2022-32840: Mohamed Ghannam (@_simo36)CVE-2022-32829: An anonymous researcher

Apple Neural Engine

Available for Apple Neural Engine devices: iPhone 8 and later, iPad Pro (3rd generation) and later, iPad Air (3rd generation) and later, and iPad mini (5th generation) Impact: An app may execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges Description: the issue was addressed through improved memory handling. CVE-2022-32810: Mohamed Ghannam (@_simo36)

House

Available for: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation) Impact: A user may be able to view limited content from the lock screen Description: A logic issue was addressed through improved state management. CVE-2022-32855: An anonymous researcher

iCloud Photo Library

Available for: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation) Impact: An app may be accessing sensitive user information : An information disclosure issue was addressed by removing the vulnerable code.CVE-2022-32849: Joshua Jones

multi-touch

Available for: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation) Impact: An app may allow arbitrary code with kernel privileges Description: a type confusion issue was addressed through improved state handling.CVE-2022-32814: Pan ZhenPeng (@Peterpan0927)

Software update

Available for: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation) Impact: A privileged network user may not be able to view the activity tracking a user Description: This issue was addressed by using HTTPS when sending information over the network.CVE-2022-32857: Jeffrey Paul (sneak.berlin)

WebKit

Available for: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation) Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution Description: An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed through improved input validation. WebKit Bugzilla: 240720CVE-2022-32792: Manfred Paul (@_manfp) working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative

Wi-Fi

Available for: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation) Impact: An app may experience unexpected system termination or write kernel memory : This issue was addressed through improved checks.CVE-2022-32837: Wang Yu of Cyberserval

Wi-Fi

Available for: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation) Impact: A remote user may experience unexpected system termination or corrupt kernel memory Description: This issue was addressed through improved checks.CVE-2022-32847: Wang Yu from Cyberserval

How to get iOS 15.6

To install iOS 15.6 on your iPhone (or iPadOS 15.6 on your iPad), open the Settings app and tap General, then Software Update and follow the instructions you find.