Macos High Sierra — 10.13.1 Patched

When users installed 10.13.1, the most immediate visual change was in the emoji picker. Apple introduced over 70 new characters to reflect a broader range of professions and cultural symbols.

The single most significant security fix in macOS High Sierra 10.13.1 was the patch for the KRACK (Key Reinstallation Attack) vulnerability. This was a severe security flaw that allowed attackers to potentially intercept and decrypt data transmitted over Wi-Fi networks protected by the WPA2 protocol. By exploiting the KRACK vulnerability, a malicious actor within range could theoretically eavesdrop on network traffic, capturing sensitive passwords and information. Apple patched this critical security gap on the macOS side with the 10.13.1 update, ensuring users were protected when connecting to secure Wi-Fi networks.

The most important aspect of the 10.13.1 update was its security focus. Apple addressed dozens of vulnerabilities, but two issues stood out, defining the update's legacy. macos high sierra 10.13.1

: Apple released Security Update 2017-001 to patch this immediately.

This means that as of May 2026, the macOS High Sierra 10.13.1 update is long out of security support. Using this version or any version prior to 10.13.6 on a production machine connected to the internet would pose significant and critical security risks. When users installed 10

As part of the High Sierra family, version 10.13.1 benefits from the massive architectural changes introduced in late 2017:

, it unintentionally created one of the most significant security flaws in macOS history. The Root Vulnerability (CVE-2017-13872) This was a severe security flaw that allowed

Many modern web browsers (such as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox) and third-party applications have dropped support for macOS 10.13. Standard built-in applications like Safari may struggle to load modern websites securely due to outdated security certificates. When to Stay on 10.13.1

The update addressed risks where applications could potentially read sensitive kernel memory, a significant breach of system isolation.

Beyond the fun additions, 10.13.1 was a "must-install" update due to several high-priority security and reliability improvements: