Apple Rushes Out Rare iOS 18 Patch As DarkSword Hack Targets Millions Of Older iPhones

When a device hits end-of-life status, and it stops receiving updates for its operating system, it’s only a matter of time before malicious actors find some sort of exploit. That’s exactly what happened with a piece of malware dubbed DarkSword, which targets users running iOS 18. Apple has since released a security patch to mitigate this threat to its users, however, including for Liquid Glass holdouts.

Security firm Malwarebytes describes DarkSword as “a full‑chain iOS exploit kit that strings together six vulnerabilities in WebKit, Safari, the dynamic loader, and the kernel to go from a browser visiting a malicious website to full device compromise.” What makes DarkSword particularly dangerous is that it requires no input on behalf of the user to infect the device; simply opening a compromised website is enough for the malware to take hold.


The severity of this exploit is what pushed Apple to release this update for older iPhones. However, the company didn’t extend the courtesy to users who were still hanging on to iOS 18 but were eligible for an upgrade to iOS 26. Many users haven’t been enthused about the company’s new design language, Liquid Glass, so there are a lot of newer iPhones out there running iOS 18.

Thankfully, Apple has reversed course on that initial rollout and will now make this security patch available to any device running iOS 18, even if it’s capable of installing iOS 26. It’s concerning that this wasn’t the case right out of the gate, and seems like an attempt to leverage the situation to force users to make the switch to iOS 26, even if they didn’t want to.

To apply this update, you should go to “Settings,” tap on “General,” and select “Software Update.” If you’re using an older, end-of-life device, you’ll see the iOS 18.7.7 update front and center, tap on “Update Now.” If you’re on a newer device, you’ll see an update to iOS 26, but right beneath that will be a section titled “Also Available,” where you can choose iOS 18.7.7 and choose “Update Now.”