Apple Inc. said on Wednesday it would review its software development process after scrambling to patch a serious bug it learned of on Tuesday in its macOS operating system for desktop and laptop computers.

The bug could potentially give attackers with physical access to a machine unfettered access to it without a password. Apple said a patch was available for download as of 8 a.m. Pacific Time (1600 GMT) on Wednesday and that the patch would be automatically installed on machines running the latest version of its macOS operating system later in the day.

"We greatly regret this error and we apologize to all Mac users, both for releasing with this vulnerability and for the concern it has caused," Apple said in a statement. "Our customers deserve better. We are auditing our development processes to help prevent this from happening again."