Apple’s macOS recently came under fire after an update revealed that it’s possible to log in as “root” – for full administrative privileges – without typing in any password for authentication.
Since it’s a Unix-based operating system, average users don’t have full administrative privileges when performing regular tasks, such as browsing or editing documents. However, a “root” user has the highest level of privilege, meaning he can fully interact with the operating system and add, remove, or edit any system files.
Root privileges are usually protected by a password – or at least should be – to prevent inadvertent tampering. Because the update appears to allow anyone to simply log in with the “root” username without a password, this is a major security vulnerability that can be heavily exploited.
