Cisco releases bundle of router security patches
Cisco has issued a set of security patches for the Internet Operating System (IOS) software, used to power its routers and switches. The patches were published Wednesday, the date Cisco had previously set aside as the latest release date for its twice-yearly IOS patches. Cisco also published 12 security advisories describing the bugs, noting that many of these vulnerabilities could be exploited by attackers to crash an IOS device. IDG News Service, 09/25/2008.

All 12 advisories listed here
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Firefox update patches a dozen flaws
A new update for Mozilla's Firefox browser (version 3.0.2) fixes a dozen different flaws from previous versions. The most serious of the vulnerabilities could be exploited to run malicious software on an affected machine. Firefox should automatically download the update, but you may need to manually restart the application, unlike with previous versions of Firefox where it asks you to restart as soon as the update is downloaded.
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Apple releases Java updates

Two new updates from Apple fix flaws in its Java implementation in Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5. The most serious of the flaws could allow an applet to access local files and resources.

Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 2

Java for Mac OS X 10.4, Release 7
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Adobe slates patch for Flash clipboard poisoning attacks
Adobe Systems last week said it will soon quash a bug in Flash that has been used for more than a month by attackers to poison Mac and Windows users' clipboards with URLs to malicious sites. Computerworld, 09/22/2008.

More info on the slated fix
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Seven new updates from Gentoo:

GNU ed (buffer overflow, code execution)

BitlBee (authentication bypass, account hijack)

R (symlink attack)

Newsbeuter (shell command execution)

HAVP (denial of service)

Mantis (multiple flaws)

Postfix (denial of service)
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Six new patches from Mandriva:

blender (code execution)

awstats (cross scripting)

phpMyAdmin (multiple flaws)

pan (denial of service)

ed (heap overflow, code execution)

wireshark (multiple flaws)
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Two new fixes from Ubuntu;

rdesktop (multiple flaws)

Firefox (multiple flaws)
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From the interesting reading department:

Apple's patch process a mess, say researchers
Apple's patching process proves that the company isn't serious about moving Macs into the enterprise, security researchers said Monday. Computerworld , 09/22/2008.

Jason Meserve is multimedia editor at Network World.