Apple + Security & Privacy

Apple yesterday announced a new version of its iTunes music software (iTunes 8) and new iPods. At the same time, Apple released an update to its QuickTime media software (version 7.5.5), and an update for the iPod touch (version 2.1). All three of these updates contain security fixes. The QuickTime update contains five fixes for Mac OS X, all dealing with problems that could be caused by maliciously crafted movie files or images, and which could lead to application termination or arbitrary code execution. Full information available here.

The iTunes update contains only one fix for Mac OS X, dealing with a misleading firewall warning dialog in iTunes; “When the firewall is configured to block iTunes Music Sharing and the user enables iTunes Music Sharing in iTunes, a warning dialog is displayed which incorrectly informs the user that unblocking iTunes Music Sharing doesn’t affect the firewall’s security.” Full information available here.

Finally, the update for the iPod touch covers areas such as the Application Sandbox, CoreGraphics and WebKit, as well as fixing DNS and TCP spoofing issues. Information on this update is available here.

You can download the first two updates via Software Update, and the iPod touch update through iTunes.