WhatsApp Patched a Zero-Click Exploit on iPhone and Mac
Update WhatsApp and your iPhone ASAP.
WhatsApp is the most popular chat app in the world, with more than three billion active users each month. That makes the app a prime target for hackers, so it’s essential for the company to patch any and all potential security vulnerabilities.
The latest such security vulnerability isn’t like most flaws, however. WhatsApp recently patched a zero-click exploit in its apps for Apple devices, a type of security flaw that allows hackers to attack without any action on the target’s part. Usually, hackers trick users into clicking links and downloading files to exploit security flaws, but this latest discovery lets them in without any interaction.
The vulnerability is CVE-2025-55177, and is labeled as an “insufficient authorization of linked device synchronization messages. Meta says the flaw “could have allowed an unrelated user to trigger processing of content from an arbitrary URL on a target’s device.”
CVE-2025-55177 affects the following WhatsApp apps:
- WhatsApp (iOS): All versions earlier than 2.25.21.73, patched on July 28, 2025.
- WhatsApp Business (iOS): Verision 2.25.21.78, patched on August 4, 2025.
- WhatsApp (macOS): Version 2.25.21.78, patched on August 4, 2025.
The reason this flaw affects Apple’s WhatsApp apps specifically is that CVE-2025-55177 might be tied to an existing Apple flaw, CVE-2025-43300. Apple says this vulnerability was weaponized in an “extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals.” Details are light as to how this flaw is tied to the WhatsApp flaw, but WhatsApp did reach out to “less than 200 users” that they believe were targeted by spyware campaigns over the past three months. That WhatsApp alert reportedly told users to perform a full device reset and to keep both the device’s OS and the WhatsApp version up to date.
To be clear, it seems hackers are targeting high-profile users with both this WhatsApp flaw and the Apple flaw. Politicians, journalists, and other important people are targets of sophisticated spyware campaigns that take advantage of these types of vulnerabilities. While it shouldn’t affect most users, it’s best to protect yourself just in case.
If you’ve updated your WhatsApp app and Apple device recently, you should be protected. But, if not, make sure to update as soon as possible.
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I don’t have this App but have been suggested that I consider it as it can be a great tool if traveling abroad or just as a matter of correspondence. But I do appreciate these security updates / briefings as they provide pre-emptive information that may otherwise not be discovered until too late. Many thanks.