Apple has taken proactive security measures to protect its users following the discovery of a technical vulnerability in the encryption keys of eight intermediate certificates from the Certificate Authority (CA) of the Indian company eMudhra. Although there is no evidence of malicious exploitation of this vulnerability to date, the weakness in the keys could have allowed attackers to impersonate trusted websites, putting sensitive user data at risk.
What has actually changed?
Since October 19, 2026, Apple has automatically blocked eMudhra's TLS certificates via the Safari browser and the Mail app, as well as all applications that rely on Apple's network and security frameworks. This action does not require any intervention from regular users or additional software updates, as the block is activated centrally.
Exception for command-line tools
The remaining issue lies with command-line tools in macOS, where some of these tools still accept the compromised certificates. Apple explained that it is currently working on releasing a macOS update that includes a comprehensive fix for this issue by modifying the /etc/ssl/cert.pem file by default.
What does this mean for users and administrators?
For system administrators and advanced users who rely on command-line tools, Apple recommends taking a temporary measure of manually removing the Root CA certificates of the company in question from the /etc/ssl/cert.pem file until the official update is provided. Apple has not yet specified an exact date for the release of this update, but it has confirmed its commitment to addressing the vulnerability to ensure the integrity of encrypted communications.
This step comes in coordination with other technology companies that manage major web browsers, as eMudhra certificates were widely trusted before this security weakness was discovered.