If you use GarageBand on your Mac, there’s a rare—and critical—security update

After a string of OS updates last week that patched billions of devices with hundreds of security fixes, Apple released one more this week targeting a very specific vulnerability in GarageBand.

The GarageBand 10.4.11 update is for users running the app in macOS 13 Ventura and macOS 14 Sonoma and wasn’t patched in macOS 14.4 or 13.6.5 last week. It does not include any new features but Apple says it has “stability improvements and bug fixes and is recommended for all users.”

GarageBand

• Available for: macOS Ventura and macOS Sonoma
• Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted file may lead to unexpected app termination or arbitrary code execution
• Description: A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management.
• CVE-2024-23300: Marc Schoenefeld, Dr. rer. nat.

Apple released GarageBand 10.4.10 in December with several improved features and improvements. The last update that strictly patched a security flaw was in March 2023 with 10.4.8. Before that, you’d need to go back to the release of version 10.3.5 in July 2020, so it’s safe to say it’s very rare for Apple to issue standalone updates without new features. So we recommend updating immediately if you’re a frequent GarageBand user.

MacOS