Yesterday we  saw the new HBO NOW service being announced for the Apple TV as well as a significant $30 cut in the Apple TV 3 pricing. On the code side, Apple TV also received a new software update.

No, it doesn’t add the HBO NOW channel nor a new user interface, but instead it deals with three security fixes. The Apple TV software update 7.1 includes security fixes thta patch different flaws that let hackers intercept SSL/TLS connections, execute arbitrary code with system privileges and create folders in trusted areas in the file system.

According to iDownloadblog, the first one is the most serious one and is dubbed as FREAK attack.

[..] the high profile SSL flaw known as “FREAK.” Spotlighted last week, the bug allows would-be attackers to spy on communications made through Safari.
More specifically, FREAK stands for Factoring RSA Export Keys, and it affects certain embodiments of web encryption technologies SSL and TLS. If used maliciously, the flaw could leave systems open to what are known as man-in-the-middle attacks.

And in case you’re wondering, updates for OS X and iOS was also pushed out yesterday which neutralizes the same bugs.

Many Apple TV users are reporting that the update is not yet available for their location. You can head over to Settings > General > Software Update and check if you’ve got it.

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Apple today released a minor software update for the 3rd generation of its set-top box. Apart from the usual “general performance and stability improvements”, Apple TV 7.0.2 software update also contains the following security fixes:

• Impact: An attacker with a privileged network position may cause an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution.

Description: Multiple memory corruption issues existed in WebKit. These issues were addressed through improved memory handling.

• Impact: A local user may be able to execute unsigned code.

Description: A state management issue existed in the handling of Mach-O executable files with overlapping segments. This issue was addressed through improved validation of segment sizes.

• Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges.

Description: A validation issue existed in the handling of certain metadata fields of IOSharedDataQueue objects. This issue was addressed through relocation of the metadata.

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