Adobe Releases Reader X

Adobe has released Reader X which includes a broker system sandbox to handle various system task related to previewing PDF files. Sand-Boxing technology has been available for MacOSX via seatbelt (sandbox-exec) in conjunction with a ".sb" configuration file. Users and administrators have had the capability to control executing processes actions including what file systems, spawing processes,hooking and network activity available.

What makes this exciting is that Adobe has included a similar sandbox to the one found in Google Chrome and has the option turned on as a default. Within Reader X agents control the writing to volumes, network sockets, process spawing and hooking. This is not full proof, but is a good start. Using Preview.app is the best solution at this time for viewing PDF files on the MacOSX. Reader X is worth a look and in the next release may prove to be once again the best solution for working with PDF files. 

For more on the technology please visit all the reference links below.

APPLE-SA-2010-11-18-1 Safari 5.0.3 and Safari 4.1.3

Apple has released a security update for Safari to address serious vulnerabilities in WebKit. This update addresses 28 vulnerabilities mainly related to the handling of HTML, in consistent handling of strings, memory corruption and a use after free error. 

The update does requrer a restart, below is a simplified list from Apple. 

• More accurate Top Hit results in the Address Field
• More accurate results in Top Sites
• Fixes an issue that could cause content delivered with the Flash 10.1 plug-in to overlap webpage content
• More reliable pop-up blocking
• Improved stability when typing into search and text input fields onwww.netflix.com and www.facebook.com
• Improved stability when using JavaScript-intensive extensions
• Improved stability when using VoiceOver with Safari

Security updates available for Adobe Reader and Acrobat

Adobe has released a security update to Adobe Reader and Acrobat to address critical vulnerabilities that are being exploited in the wild. 

Try Again:Mac OS X Server v10.6.5 (10H575) Update

Apple pulled and then re-released an update for Mac OSX server after a discovery of a vulnerability in memory aliasing in Dovecot which resulted in a user receiving another users email. If your server is using Dovecot for mail then this update is required, otherwise the update can be applied during off-hours mainly due to requiring a restart.

Apple's gerneralized list of fixes:

• - name queries in Web Calendar match against first name, last name and email attributes 
• - improved setup of Podcast Producer service when bound to an Active Directory server
• - preventing Podcast Capture from always storing passwords in keychain
• - reliability of Web Podcast Capture
• - stopping Podcast Producer recordings with remote cameras 
• - reliability of connections between Podcast Producer server with remote cameras
• - Podcast Producer workflows publishing to a wiki page with an Active Directory account
• - synchronization of audio and video output from Podcast Producer workflows which include intro videos or titling or transitions
• - use of "-" character in specifying DHCP Subnets with Server Admin
• - improved Wiki Server connection latency 
• - use of "/" character with Wiki Server mailing lists
• - configuration of iChat Server when changing host names using changeip 
• - preventing automatic changes to a ".local" domain in iChat Server configuration due to DNS unresponsiveness
• - importing of iChat accounts with Managed Preferences
• - preventing network homes being used after mobile accounts enabled
• - corrections to the iCal Preference Manifest
• - viewing of IPP print queues with Workgroup Manager
• - reliability of External Accounts with FAT32 file systems
• - reliability of applying Managed Preferences to Macs that have been idle
• - allowing administrators to bypass Managed Preferences at login
• - improper removal of older updates by Software Update Server
• - using Server Assistant to setup remote servers
• - reliability and logging of Mail Server
• - reliability of Managed Preferences
• - reliability of Web Server with PHP scripts

ALERT: PGP MAC WDE Compatibility Problem with MAC OS X 10.6.5 Update

This is an Alert directly from the forums at PGP corporation. You will want to decrypted the PGP WDE system and then apply the update. Once this is completed then you can re-encrypt the disk. 

From the PGP Forums:

MAC WDE customers should not apply the recent Mac OS X 10.6.5 update. Compatibility issues may prevent the system from successfully booting. We will provide a detailed update as soon as a solution has been identified.

In the interim, customers can accomplish the upgrade safely if the PGP WDE system is first decrypted, then apply the MAC OS X 10.6.5 update and then re-encrypt.

PGP Technical Support