Adobe has issued an update for its Flash Player software that fixes at least 25 separate security vulnerabilities in the widely-installed program. The company also pushed out a security patch for its Adobe AIR software.
The chart below shows the newest patch version numbers released today. Updates are available for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android systems. Windows and Mac users can grab the latest updates from the Flash Player Download Center, but be on the lookout for bloatware toolbar add-ons that come pre-checked (like McAfee VirusScan). Other OS users should consult the Adobe security bulletin. Internet Explorer 10 users on Windows 8 can grab the update via Windows Update or from Microsoft’s site.
Note that Windows users who browse the Web with Internet Explorer and another browser will need to apply the Flash update twice, once using IE and again with the other browser.
Most users can find out what version of Flash they have installed by visiting this link. Google released an update to Chrome today (22.0.1229.92) that addresses these vulnerabilities on Windows, Mac and Linux; to find out what version of Chrome you have and if updates are available, click the icon with three lines to the right of the browser address bar and select “About Google Chrome.”
Adobe spokeswoman Wiebke Lips said the company was not aware of any exploits in the wild for any of the issues patched in this release. Nevertheless, if you have Flash on your system (and most readers will) it’s a good idea to take of this update soon.