Stay Safe: Update Adobe Reader, Acrobat and Flash Player
Yesterday, the 12 of January, Redmond-based software giant released 1 security bulletin that addressed 1 security vulnerability that plagued the Windows operating system. At the same time Adobe updated its Reader and Acrobat products to version 9.3 to plug a security hole that was being exploited by people with malicious intent since December. The vulnerability affected Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 and previous versions.
“Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Adobe Reader 9.2 and Acrobat 9.2 for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX, and Adobe Reader 8.1.7 and Acrobat 8.1.7 for Windows and Macintosh. These vulnerabilities could cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. Adobe recommends users of Adobe Reader 9.2 and Acrobat 9.2 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX update to Adobe Reader 9.3 and Acrobat 9.3,” explained Adobe in a security bulletin.
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If you’re on Vista or Windows 7, that’s just about it. You can go about your day safe in the knowledge that you’ve updated your software and you’re safe. But if you’re using Windows XP, there you need to get some more updates from Adobe. You see, by default, Windows XP comes with Adobe Flash Player 6. This particular version has been discontinued by the California-based company that specializes in creating multimedia and creativity software products. Both Adobe and Microsoft advise XP users to update their Flash Player.
Adobe Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) issued this warning: “Microsoft Windows XP redistributes an earlier version of Adobe Flash Player (version 6) that is no longer supported. Adobe discontinued support for Adobe Flash Player 6 in 2006. As always, Adobe recommends that users follow security best practices by updating to the latest, most secure version of Adobe Flash Player (currently version 10.0.42.34), which is available for download [here].”
Microsoft issued a security advisory that said the following: “Microsoft is aware of reports of vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player 6 provided in Windows XP. We are not aware of attacks that try to use the reported vulnerabilities or of customer impact at this time but recommend that users install the latest version of Flash Player provided by Adobe. The Adobe Flash Player 6 was provided with Windows XP and contains multiple vulnerabilities that could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page. Adobe has addressed these vulnerabilities in newer versions of Adobe Flash Player. Microsoft recommends that users of Windows XP with Adobe Flash Player 6 installed update to the most current version of Flash Player available from Adobe.”
Yesterday, the 12 of January, Redmond-based software giant released 