Apple Computer on Monday released a security patch that fixes what the company called the first "critical" Mac OS X flaw.
A combination of holes disclosed by security researchers last month could have allowed an attacker to take over a vulnerable Macintosh, though no such exploits have been reported. Apple issued a partial fix last month, but security researchers had said that the Mac remained open to attack. Apple executives had earlier pledged to release a more complete patch, calling the flaw the first critical security issue since Mac OS X was released three years ago.
Apple said that creating the alert dialog box was the best way to prevent a malicious attack, while still preserving a popular feature of the operating system--the ability to open one program via a link from within another program. That feature allows one to send an e-mail directly through a link in a Web page, for instance. "We believe we found a very good simple change in a core service that prevents these unwanted risks," Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller said on Monday. "This update, to the best of our knowledge, should close off the critical risk."