Apple patched at least 46 vulnerabilities in the Mac OS X and popular Apple applications in a set of updates released on Tuesday.

The updates fixed many issues in the open-source components of Apple's operating system, fixing, for example, seven flaws in the MySQL database software used by Macs. The patch also included a number of fixes for flaws found by the Month of Kernel Bugs (MoKB) and Month of Apple Bugs (MoAB) projects, including 6 issues with the Mac's handling of Apple's disk image format. Other applications, such as FlashPlayer and iPhoto, were also patched on Tuesday.

The patch underscores the impact that the controversial MoKB and MoAB projects had on the technology maker. One third of the flaws (at least 16) patched in the latest update were attributed to issues found by the two projects. Apple first fixed a security hole--in QuickTime--found by the Month of Apple Bugs on January 23. The updates also come just two weeks after a security researcher took Apple to task for its handling of security flaws.

Last week, Apple fixed a number of serious issues in QuickTime.

The update will be downloaded and installed through the Mac OS X's Software Update facility, if the preferences have been set to allow automatic updating. More information on the issues fixed by the updates can be found on Apple's Web site.