macOS 12.7.3 and 13.6.4 are maintenance releases with important bug fixes and security patches for older Macs powered by Monterey or Ventura.
Apple released macOS Monterey 12.7.3 and macOS Ventura 13.6.4 Â on January 23, 2024. The updates contain patches for exploits in these older operating systems.
To install an over-the-air update on your Mac running Monterey or Ventura, go to System Settings > General > Software Update and follow the instructions.
Although Apple doesn’t develop new software features for older macOS versions, it provides maintenance updates to ensure folks who own an older Mac or haven’t yet upgraded to Sonoma have the latest security fixes.
macOS 12.7.3 and 13.6.4: Security patches for older Macs
macOS Monterey 12.7.3 and macOS Ventura 13.6.4 fix multiple issues in curl, the command-line tool for transferring data between a device and a server using various network protocols. Another issue that both macOS 12.7.3 and macOS 13.6.4 address is a bug in Mail search that may expose your sensitive data.
If your Mac uses Ventura, a privacy bug you should know about could let people with access to your computer see the desktop of whoever was previously logged in, right from the fast user switching screen! macOS Ventura 13.6.4 addresses the authentication issue with “improved state management.”
Apple’s support docs detailing the fixes:
Apple’s Neural Engine got hacked
It looks like Neural Engine was hacked. Neural Engine is a marketing name for a coprocessor located on all Apple silicon chips that accelerates mcahine learning tasks like object recognition in Photos, scene analysis in Camera, etc.
Unforutanelly, there’s a bug in Neural Engine that could let an app run arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Don’t fret, macOS Ventura 13.6.4, macOS Monterey 12.7.3 and macOS Sonoma 14.3 address this issue with improved memory handling.