Feds tipped Apple to a security flaw it already fixed

The FBI can't tell Apple about the security vulnerability it exploited to get into the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone. But it did tell the company a different flaw in its iPhone and Mac software, according to Reuters. There's just one little thing that makes the information useless: it's an old vulnerability, and the tech giant already fixed it.

The agency gave Cupertino the info a day after reports came out that since it doesn't own the technique used to unlock the iPhone 5c in the San Bernardino case -- it paid a group of hackers for it, if you'll recall -- it can't disclose the flaw to the company. As Reuters noted, it may have been a move to demonstrate that the White House's Vulnerability Equities Process does work if and when the agency can use it. The government subjects software flaws it unearths to the Vulnerability Process, giving various agencies the chance to discuss whether they should be disclosed to their respective companies.

An unnamed Apple exec, however, told Reuters that the move "did nothing to change the company's perception that the White House process is less effective than has been claimed." He said Cupertino already patched the vulnerability with the release of iOS 9 and Mac OS X El Capitan, making it a case of too little, too late.