Content

Panther gets its teeth back in Apple mega patch

Apple has released a host of patches for its Panther operating system, days after it released, Tiger, its newest OS.

The 20 patches apply to vulnerabilities in Apache, Bluetooth and a number of other applications.

Some of the patches cover holes allowing hackers to remotely attack systems. In particular the Apache vulnerability, "contains a buffer overflow, which if used improperly in a CGI application, could allow a remote system compromise," Apple said in its advisory.

Even though security firm Secunia, which rates vulnerabilities, said it would very difficult to exploit Apache, it does rate the patches as "highly-critical" meaning that those still using Panther should update immediately.

The flaws patched in this weeks release are already covered in Apple's new Tiger OS.

Vulnerabilities have hit the news regularly in 2005. Earlier this week SC reported The National Infrastructure Advisory Council is working towards a common advisory scheme making it easier to assess the nature of vulnerabilities.

And earlier this year SC reported Microsoft's mega-update, Service Park 2 for Windows XP, had been adopted by less than a quarter of all businesses.

www.apple.com
www.secunia.com

Get daily email updates

SC Media's daily must-read of the most current and pressing daily news

By clicking the Subscribe button below, you agree to SC Media Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.