Remember that time Adobe confirmed a vulnerability in Flash that was so bad, the only way to protect yourself was to uninstall Flash completely? Well this new security flaw isn’t quite as dire, but it is something that you need to be aware of and act on immediately. The good news is that unlike that last major security hole, Adobe has already patched the problems and made an update available for download.
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Before we go any further, we need to be perfectly clear: this is a very serious security flaw. According to Adobe, the issues in question are “critical vulnerabilities that could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.” In other words, hackers can use the aforementioned flaws to break into your computer, take control of it, and even steal your private data.
No one wants that, and Adobe’s latest update addresses 23 security holes, with the severe ones noted above among them.
Most interestingly, the security bulletin issued by Adobe states that the issues at hand could potentially impact Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, Android and Chrome OS. As such, the company has stated that all users should update their devices immediately.
Here are Adobe’s notes on how to update each different platform, with several of the required links included:
- Adobe recommends users of the Adobe Flash Player Desktop Runtime for Windows and Macintosh update to 21.0.0.182 via the update mechanism within the product when prompted, or by visiting the Adobe Flash Player Download Center.
- Adobe recommends users of the Adobe Flash Player Extended Support Release should update to version 18.0.0.333 by visiting http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html.
- Adobe recommends users of Adobe Flash Player for Linux update to Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.577 by visiting the Adobe Flash Player Download Center.
- Adobe Flash Player installed with Google Chrome will be automatically updated to the latest Google Chrome version, which will include Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.182 for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Chrome OS.
- Adobe Flash Player installed with Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer for Windows 10 will be automatically updated to the latest version, which will include Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.182.
- Adobe Flash Player installed with Internet Explorer for Windows 8.x will be automatically updated to the latest version, which will include Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.182.
