Security Snafu Allows Access to High Sierra Macs

‘Huge’ Security Flaw Allows Easy Access to Macs

According to an article posted on November 28 on TechCrunch, a critical vulnerability in the current version of MacOS High Sierra (10.13.1) allows for anyone to log onto a Macintosh running High Sierra with only a few keystrokes. Caught by Istanbul-based software devloper Lemi Orhan Ergin, the flaw allows laypersons to gain easy access to an unsecured Mac:

Dear @AppleSupport, we noticed a *HUGE* security issue at MacOS High Sierra. Anyone can login as “root” with empty password after clicking on login button several times. Are you aware of it @Apple?

— Lemi Orhan Ergin (@lemiorhan) November 28, 2017

High Sierra users can fix the flaw themselves in a few minutes with a simple workaround that will prevent unprotected access to the “root” user by unauthorized or malicious users.