Apple patches 58 flaws in Safari 5.1 as Lion lands

Alongside Apple's long-awaited OS update, codenamed Lion, launched on Wednesday, came a new version of its Safari browser which patched a whopping 58 flaws and added new features.

Safari 5.1 patched 43 vulnerabilities in Safari's open source web browser engine WebKit. The majority of flaws affected Windows 7, Vista, XP SP2 or later and Mac platforms.

Many of the flaws could lead to arbitrary code execution merely by visiting a maliciously crafted web site or TIFF image, allowing for drive-by download attacks.

Although Apple does not classify the threat level of flaws in its products, it's fairly certain that this kind of vulnerability would be rated critical.

Safari 5.1 also contains several new security features including sandboxing, designed to automatically prevent attempts to grab personal data or take control of a user's machine.

Also included is a Privacy Pane feature which shows what kind of cookie-related data web sites are storing and how to remove it, and Private AutoFill function functionality which allows the user to decide if and when their information is entered into a web form.