This is a short blurb intended mostly to help out friends and family. Earlier today Twitter caught fire as a massive bug was reported in the latest version of MacOS (macOS High Sierra) by Lemi Orhan Ergin (Thanks for the heads up, sir!):
You can access it via System Preferences>Users & Groups>Click the lock to make changes. Then use “root” with no password. And try it for several times. Result is unbelievable! pic.twitter.com/m11qrEvECs
— Lemi Orhan Ergin (@lemiorhan) November 28, 2017
An update to the OS cleared the root account password. You can do as suggested in the tweet, as well as even log into your Mac using root with no password. This is a very serious security issue, you need to address this right now. I panicked when I saw this and tweeted my panic! Typo and all.
Ah, it worked me on second try!! FIX IT! FIX IT! FIX IT! FIX IT! FIX IT! FIX IT! FIX IT! FIX IT! FIX IT! FIX IT! pic.twitter.com/9wplLvvqsG
— Rory Monaghan (@Rorymon) November 28, 2017
Update: More reason to worry, check out this video and thread:
— D̒͂̕ă̋n̕ Ť̨̖̾̾̓͐͒͜͠ͅe̘͗̑́̋̂́͡ͅn̅̀̀͞t̾l̀̓̐͘e̓̒̂̚r (@Viss) November 29, 2017
There is an easy workaround. Just set a root password! Follow this post to see how it’s done. How do I know if I have macOS High Sierra? Click anywhere on your desktop 
When you see Finder in the menu bar, click the Apple icon 
Click About This Mac 
If you have macOS High Sierra continue to follow my steps on how to set a root password How to Set a Root Password 
In Launchpad, click System Preferences 
Click on Users & Groups 
Click Login Options 
Click Open Directory Utility… 
Click the padlock icon 
Enter your admin credentials and click Unlock 
Navigate to the menu–>Edit and click Change Root Password… Set a secure password (don’t set it to password or root or something dumb!) and when complete, click on the padlock icon again. Your root account should now be fixed! Featured image courtesy of Apple.
