Apple users tend to have a false sense of security superiority when it comes to their beloved Mac machines. But you gotta give Apple some credit — when a security hole is discovered, the company is pretty good about patching it quickly.

This time around, Apple has released Security Update 2007-009 to fix some 41 flaws in Mac OS X and the Safari Web browser.

The SANS Internet Storm Center (ISC) Web site has a pretty good summary of what’s been fixed:

2007-009 10.5.1 includes fixes for CF Network, Core Foundation, CUPS, Flash Player Plug-in, Launch Services, perl, python, Quick Look, ruby, Safari, Samba, Shockwave Plug-in and Spin Tracer.

2007-009 10.4.11 Universal and 10.4.11 PPC include fixes for Address Book, CUPS, ColorSync, Core Foundation, Desktop Services, Flash Player Plug-in, gnutar, iChat, IO Storage Family, Launch Services, Mail, perl, python, ruby, Samba, Safari, Shockwave Plug-in, SMB, Spotlight, tcpdump and XQuery.

“Several of these issues are rather serious, so we strongly advise installing these updates at your earliest convenience,” ISC handler Maarten Van Horenbeeck wrote, adding that users can read up on the individual CVE numbers and vulnerability descriptions here.