Apple released a total of 41 security updates for Mac OS X: Both Security Update 2007-008 and the update to Mac OS X 10.4.11 include the 41 fixes, 15 of which could be considered critical by virtue of Apple’s designating them capable of arbitrary code execution, its terminology for an attack that could result in a compromised Mac.

The remaining patches fixed flaws that could crash the system or applications, poison the Mac’s DNS cache, allow malicious Web sites to conduct drive-by downloads, or let hackers steal information or look at files on the hard drive.

Many of the vulnerabilities were in the third-party components included with Apple’s operating system, noted Andrew Storms, nCircle Inc.’s director of security operations. “The majority of the bugs found in OS X and on the iPhone have dealt primarily with third-party applications shipped with Apple’s operating systems,” said Storms in an e-mail. “Typically, the third-party applications are open-source projects; examples represented here include BIND, bzip and Kerberos. It’s good to see Apple put forth these fixes as many of these updates fix critical security flaws.”

The security updates can be downloaded and installed via Software Update preferences, or from Apple Downloads.

Source: ComputerWorld