Apple adds security enhancements to Java 6 in latest update

Apple on Tuesday released a pair of Java SE 6 updates for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, 10.7 Lion and 10.8 Mountain Lion, bringing the usual security, reliability and compatibility improvements to Oracle's software.

In addition to the enhancements, the update disables the Java SE 6 applet plug-in for those systems which haven't updated since the Java for OS X 2021-006 came out in October of 2012. That update further patched a security breach created by the Flashback trojan, which affected hundreds of thousands of Macs in last year.

About Java for OS X 2013-003

Java for OS X 2013-003 delivers improved security, reliability, and compatibility by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_45.

On systems that have not already installed Java for OS X 2012-006, this update disables the Java SE 6 applet plug-in. To use applets on a web page, click on the region labeled "Missing plug-in" to download the latest version of the Java applet plug-in from Oracle.

As of this writing, the updates have yet to hit Apple's Support Downloads webpage, but the software should be ready for download shortly. Snow Leopard users can get the 69.39MB update here, while Macs running Lion and Mountain Lion can download the 63.92MB update here.