Mac OS X flaws highlighted by multiple sources

A RANGE of security flaws - from an easily crackable Bluetooth passkey to weakness in file sharing within Apple's Mac OS X have just been tackled by the company. All in all there were 26 of them.

The company has issued Security Update 2006-004 to resolve the problems. The previous update was in June. The update is available from the 'Software Update' pane in 'System Preferences'.

Apple admitted that it had reacted to information provided by a variety of sources. The list includes Google and Mozilla, as well as Tom Ferris, a freelance security researcher who previously had disclosed limited data about Apple bugs.

You wouldn't want to give the hackers too much of a helping hand, would you?

A number of flaws related to file sharing, handled by the Mac OS X AFP server, could cause a system crash or let a malicious user gain elevated privileges on a Mac OS X system.

The update also increases the length of the passkey used for pairing Bluetooth devices with Mac computers. This will better protect Macs when pairing with Bluetooth devices.

The dangers may have been exaggerated, of course. Security specialist, Symantec, said that it doesn't know of current attack code for any of the issues, although some may not require specific exploit code.

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