Mac OSX 10.9.2 Mavericks Update Released: SSL 'Gotofail' Bug Patched, FaceTime Audio And iMessage Blocking Added

After the “goto fail” SSL security vulnerability went public last week, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has finally closed the security hole with its latest update for Mac OSX Mavericks with its 10.9.2 update.

In addition to the major security fix, which patches a code flaw that allowed hackers to perform a “man-in-the-middle” attack, several new features have been added to Mac OSX Mavericks 10.9.2.

Among them is, FaceTime audio only support, which finally makes its way in this Mac OSX Mavericks 10.9.2. Previously, the voice-over-IP (VOIP) feature was only available on devices running iOS 7.

For iMessage users looking to gain more control over who can contact them, the ability to block iMessages from individual senders is now possible on Mac OSX Mavericks 10.9.2.

In addition, the Mac OSX Mavericks 10.9.2 update notes list several other fixes:

Improves the accuracy of unread counts in Mail
Resolves an issue that prevented Mail from receiving new messages from certain providers
Improves AutoFill compatibility in Safari
Fixes an issue that may cause audio distortion on certain Macs
Improves reliability when connecting to a file server using SMB2
Fixes an issue that may cause VPN connections to disconnect
Improves VoiceOver navigation in Mail and Finder

While the summarized patches notes don’t disclose that the SSL bug is patched in 10.9.2, several developers have confirmed that the SSL/TLS “gotofail” security vulnerability bug has been fixed.

This update comes just in time as anger was brewing in the OSX security community over the way Apple handled the disclosure of the SSL “gotofail” security vulnerability, since its disclosure with the release of iOS 6.1.6 and 7.0.6 left Mac OSX Mavericks 10.9.1 and below vulnerable until Apple officially released its patch today.

Mac OSX Mavericks users should update to 10.9.2 as soon as possible to close the SSL security hole which affects all devices running Mac OSX Mavericks.

For more details about the latest update of Mac OS X Mavericks, read the full patch notes on the Apple knowledge base site here.