Apple Releases AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.7.3 With Heartbleed Fix

Apple today released AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.7.3 for AirPorts with 802.11ac. The update includes security improvements related to SSL/TLS.

AirPort Base Station Firmware Update 7.7.3
Available for: AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations with 802.11ac

Impact: An attacker in a privileged network position may obtain memory contents

Description: An out-of-bounds read issue existed in the OpenSSL library when handling TLS heartbeat extension packets. An attacker in a privileged network position could obtain information from process memory. This issue was addressed through additional bounds checking. Only AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations with 802.11ac are affected, and only if they have Back to My Mac or Send Diagnostics enabled. Other AirPort base stations are not impacted by this issue.

Earlier this month, an OpenSSL bug known as Heartbleed made headlines, with Apple releasing a statement noting that iOS, OS X, and its "key web services" were unaffected by the security flaw, but it appears that the company's AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule were vulnerable.

The 7.7.3 update is recommended for all models of the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule that support 802.11ac Wi-Fi, other AirPort base stations do not need to be updated.