Apple releases macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 with a fix for MacBook Pro charging issues, patches SUDO bug

Apple has released a minor update for its desktop operating system, aiming to fix a lingering issue for some MacBook Pro owners.

On Tuesday, Apple released macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 to the public. This latest software update comes just a little over a week after Apple released macOS Big Sur 11.2, and it’s a minor update through and through. The new software is designed to fix a single issue, and that’s just for select MacBook Pro models.

The new software is available now as a free update for eligible models.

WWDC 2020 macos big sur

The release notes say this software update addresses an issue that may prevent some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models from charging. So if you have one of those MacBook Pro models, and you’ve been running into these issues, make sure to upgrade as soon as you can.

The new software also addresses and patches the SUDO bug, which ZDNet outlined earlier this month:

The vulnerability, disclosed last week as CVE-2021-3156 (aka Baron Samedit) by security researchers from Qualys, impacts Sudo, an app that allows admins to delegate limited root access to other users. Qualys researchers discovered that they could trigger a “heap overflow” bug in the Sudo app to change the current user’s low-privileged access to root-level commands, granting the attacker access to the whole system.

Apple has patched this security bug with this latest update.

And here’s the full changelog Apple issued alongside the update:

macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 — Restart Required

macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 addresses an issue that may prevent the battery from charging in some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models.

Some features may not be available for all regions, or on all Apple devices.
For more detailed information about this update, please visit: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211896
For detailed information about the security content of this update, please visit: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222