Adobe today disclosed that when exploited, a vulnerability in its Flash platform may allow hackers to remotely take over PCs, Macs and Linux machines. An update for Flash has been released and users are strongly advised to update. A similar remote execution bug in Flash was discovered in February, the latest makes it two in just under a couple of months.
This remote execution bug affects Flash Player 13.0.0.182 and earlier on Windows, Flash Player 13.0.0.201 and earlier on Mac and Flash Player 11.2.202.350 and earlier on Linux machines. Adobe has revealed that attacks exploiting these vulnerabilities have already been discovered “in the wild,” so it is in users’ best interests to update as soon as possible.
The new patched version of Flash is 13.0.0.206 for Windows and Mac and 11.2.202.356 for Linux. Those who use Chrome and Internet Explorer 10 or 11, which have Flash embedded in them, will automatically receive the update through their browsers’ update mechanism. The rest should manually update Flash on their computers.
In order to find out exactly what version of Flash you’re running, visit Adobe’s About Flash Player page or right click on any embedded Flash content in a web browser and click on “About Adobe Flash Player.” This will reveal the version you’re running.