Flash has a Critical Security Risk.

[papermonkey01]

And I'll bet Jobs is giggling like a little school girl about this one. Apparently Adobe has found a pretty significant security risk (one that's already being exploited) in all of it's products. To make matters worse they don't appear to be fixing it till sometime next week, AFTER we get our Flash for the Xoom. This security risk is affecting anything that uses flash, all websites, computers, phones. It can lead to crashes and as a result open the infected system to attacks. The full Adobe advisory follows.

Adobe - Security Advisories: APSA11-01 - Security Advisory for Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Reader and Acrobat

 

[marctronixx]

this is an issue across all platforms not JUST android or xoom. mac is affected also. isnt mac a part of steve jobs' portfolio? so why would he be laughing?

if this specifically said "moto xoom users are the only ones affected...." then OK perhaps i can see your point, however anyone who uses this update has the potential to be attacked..

exploits are found all the time.. why should this one be so shocking?

and since this is for a wider audience, this goes to a more general section...

 

[NatesMom]

So according to Adobe, the exploit is through a Shockwave file embedded in Excel through an email.

Solution: don't open any questionable Excel attachments!

 

[ari-free]

I bet Steve isn't giggling after this
Google's Chrome and Android survive hack attacks; Apple falters - International Business Times

 

[ari-free]

So according to Adobe, the exploit is through a Shockwave file embedded in Excel through an email.

Solution: don't open any questionable Excel attachments!

kinda hard to do in Android since there's no Microsoft Excel for Android

 

[TheBrit]

Ming the Merciless wasn't impressed by Flash either

 

[NatesMom]

kinda hard to do in Android since there's no Microsoft Excel for Android

Plus if you use gMail, you have options dealing with Excel attachments. Wonder what would happen if you opened the infected Excel file in Google Spreadsheets view? Does the exploit still work?

 

[ari-free]

Flash! aaa! Savior of the universe!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNIVpMXHqlk

 

[papermonkey01]

this is an issue across all platforms not JUST android or xoom. mac is affected also. isnt mac a part of steve jobs' portfolio? so why would he be laughing?

if this specifically said "moto xoom users are the only ones affected...." then OK perhaps i can see your point, however anyone who uses this update has the potential to be attacked..

exploits are found all the time.. why should this one be so shocking?

and since this is for a wider audience, this goes to a more general section...

Copy that an no issues here. But yes he has stated he dislikes flash for his Ipods and such, so.... this one isn't shocking, just news

 

[mikedt]

So according to Adobe, the exploit is through a Shockwave file embedded in Excel through an email.

Despite the thread's title, this is an exploit in Shockwave and NOT Flash. Shockwave and Flash are different products. Android devices do NOT have Shockwave, they only have Flash.

Solution: don't open any questionable Excel attachments!

Also remove any Adobe Shockwave player software from your PC or Mac. Flash content will still play just fine.

 

[NatesMom]

Despite the thread's title, this is an exploit in Shockwave and NOT Flash. Shockwave and Flash are different products. Android devices do NOT have Shockwave, they only have Flash.

Also remove any Adobe Shockwave player software from your PC or Mac. Flash content will still play just fine.

My bad...the OP is correct, the latest vulnerability is with Flash, but there is one for Shockwave but that only affects Windows & Macs. Just goes to show I can't keep track of Adobe's many security reports.

Adobe Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) Blog

And it doesn't help when the blogosphere also doesn't always report things accurately.

However, after all is said and done, people just need to use some common sense. Last month, at my work, we received more than 13 Microsoft patches for desktops and servers, the majority of them critical to high. We haven't finished patching all the devices but guess what? We just do our work, exercise caution and life goes on.