The vulnerability was already patched, which the FBI obviously knew, so why did it provide it the vulnerability?

Although the Federal Bureau of Investigation is unwilling to disclose the vulnerability in its iPhone that it exploited to access the data in the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, it however threw it a bone to munch on, according to a report from Reuters.

The bone wasn’t juicy since the vulnerability that it disclosed was an old one that had already been patched by Cupertino.

Most probably, the FBI did not provide the vulnerability that it exploited simply because it did not own the technique to exploit the vulnerability that unlocked the iPhone 5c in the San Bernardino shooting case. If memory serves you right, the FBI paid a group of hackers to help it break into Apple’s iOS. Since it doesn’t own the flaw it can give it away.

This highlights, if not demonstrates the fact that the White House’s Vulnerability Equities Process does in fact work.

The U.S. government subjects software vulnerabilities to the Vulnerability Process, thus providing various agencies the chance to thrash out the do’s and don’ts of the disclosure to the respective companies.

As for the vulnerability that the FBI disclosed to Apple, an Apple executive who preferred the cover of anonymity, since he wasn’t authorized to speak on this matter, said that this “did nothing to change the company’s perception that the White House process is less effective than has been claimed.”

He went on to add, that Apple had already patched the vulnerability with the release of iOS 9 and Mac OS X El Capitan.

It’s very likely that the move was designed to smoothen ruffled feathers, than anything more meaningful.