Apple fixed 79 security flaws in Mac OS X and 55 security flaws in the Flash Player plug-in that the company included in OS updates. This means that 41% of the security flaws were Flash Player related.
Regarding the security fixes for the Flash Player plug-in, Apple said: “Multiple issues exist in the Adobe Flash Player plug-in, the most serious of which may lead to arbitrary code execution”.
Commenting on the Apple security update, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said: “Many of the vulnerabilities could be exploited by malicious hackers to run unauthorized code on your Mac computer, opening you up to the potential of being spied upon, having information stolen, or cybercriminals commandeering your Mac into becoming part of a botnet. So, don't delay. Investigate rolling this update onto your Apple Macs as soon as possible.”
The security update itself is huge, 977.2 megabytes (MB) for the combo update that can be applied on a factory-stock installation of the Snow Leopard operating system and 644.4 MB for the delta update that requires OS X 10.6.4, noted Washington Post reporter Rob Pegoraro. “As downloads go, the 10.6.5 update squashes earlier releases flat”, he said.
“For users with broadband access, these ever-larger downloads aren't a serious obstacle, even if they are getting a little ridiculous….But if you're still on dial-up, I guess you either visit the Apple Store or have a broadband-blessed friend download the update and mail you a CD DVD or a USB flash drive”, Pegoraro mused.