Flash users are asked to visit the About Flash page to check the Flash version installed on their computer.

It is alternatively possible to right-click on Flash content to see the Flash Player version in the context menu.

Adobe recommends to update Flash Player to the newest version 11.1.102.55 by downloading it from Adobe’s Flash Player Download Center. Is it alternatively possible to download Flash offline installers from the linked guide. Android users can update Flash by downloading the latest version from Android Market on their Android device. Google Chrome users do not need to run the update manually as it is automatically installed by the browser.

The security patch fixes several memory corruption, buffer overflow and stack overflow vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player that attackers could exploit to cause a crash on the system running Adobe Flash technologies. Code execution could then give the attacker control of the affected system.

Interested users can read the security bulletin over at the Adobe website. It offers additional information about each vulnerability found and download links to various technologies affected by the vulnerabilities.

The next big Flash release (that is Adobe Flash 11.2) will introduce automatic silent updates on Windows. This means that it will become more comfortable for Windows users to keep their installed version of Flash up to date on their system. See Flash Player 11.2 Introduces Automatic Updates for details.

The auto-updater is only provided for Windows systems in Flash 11.2. Windows users who install Flash Player 11.2 or later will see the following prompt after the successful installation.

It reads:

Security updates and enhancements are periodically released for Adobe Flash Player that can be downloaded and installed automatically.

Choose your update method:

• Install updates automatically when possible (recommended)
• Notify me when updates are available
• Never check for updates (not recommended)

The first option checks for and installs Flash Player versions automatically on the operating system. Depending on the Flash version installed, this may include one (Internet Explorer version or other browser version) or even both versions if both are installed on the system.

The second option will perform the same checks for new versions. Instead of installing new versions automatically it will inform the user instead.

Flash Player will check for updates once per hour if the first or second option are selected. Adobe notes that users need to restart their web browser after an update has been installed to use the new version of Flash Player in the web browser.

The latest version of Adobe Flash Player 11.2 is available on the Adobe Labs download page. The installer is provided for all 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems that support Adobe Flash. The very same page offer downloads for the Flash Player uninstaller for 32-bit and 64-bit systems to uninstall the test version from the system again.

The update checks for new Flash versions are added as a Windows task so that no update program is running all the time on the computer system. It is likely that this new security feature will decrease the number of successful Flash player based attacks on Windows significantly. (via)

The update is classified as important which is the second highest severity rating available.

Flash users can verify the installed version of the application by visiting Adobe’s Flash Player page. The system is vulnerable to the attacks if the Flash version is 10.3.181.16 or earlier.

Download links are provided on the security bulletin’s page. The latest version can be downloaded from the official Get Flash Player page as well. Direct Downloads are available as well.

Adobe is currently not aware of attacks that use the authplay.dll component that ships with Adobe Reader and Acrobat. While the company is not aware of attacks at this point in time, it has not completed the investigation if authplay.dll is vulnerable to the recently discovered Flash vulnerability.

In other news: The developers of the popular video player VLC have also released a new version of their application to protect users from recently discovered security issues.

The release notes list an integer overflow vulnerability in xspf demuxer as well as several updates and rewrites of features in the latest version of the media player.

VLC users are encouraged to download and install the latest version of the player right away to protect their system from possible exploits.

Downloads are as usually offered at the official Videolan website.

We have covered all new features of Flash Player 10.3 when the first beta was released in March, and those information are still valid.

Adobe Flash Player 10.3.181.14 fixes several security issues, next to the new features that have been added by Adobe.

The vulnerabilities affect all supported operating systems and have received a critical rating by Adobe. Users are encouraged to update their version of Flash to the new release as soon as possible.

Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Adobe Flash Player 10.2.159.1 and earlier versions (Adobe Flash Player 10.2.154.28 and earlier for Chrome users) for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris, and Adobe Flash Player 10.2.157.51 and earlier versions for Android. These vulnerabilities could cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports of malware attempting to exploit one of the vulnerabilities, CVE-2011-0627, in the wild via a Flash (.swf) file embedded in a Microsoft Word (.doc) or Microsoft Excel (.xls) file delivered as an email attachment targeting the Windows platform. However, to date, Adobe has not obtained a sample that successfully completes an attack. (via)

The new handling of so called Flash cookies in web browsers is probably the most important feature from an end-user’s perspective. Before Flash Player 10.3, you were not able to delete those cookies from within the browser interface. Even if you’d select to delete all cookies, you’d only delete HTTP cookies and not cookies created by Flash.

With the new system in place, browser developers can integrate the cleaning of Flash cookies right into the temporary files and history cleaning of the web browser.

Another interesting addition is the integration of Flash Player in the operating system’s Control Panel. Windows, Mac and Linux users find a Flash entry in the control panel which they can use to configure Adobe’s Flash Player.

Users can make use of the new settings manager to manage local storage settings, camera and microphone permissions and peer-assisted networking permissions. It furthermore can be used to check for updates manually, and block the automatic update checks.

A delete all button is offered under Browsing Data and Settings which removes all Flash related settings and data across all browsers on the computer.

Flash Player 10.3 Direct Download Links

You can download Flash from the official Get Adobe Flash website as well.

The disadvantage is a delay between the release of a new version of Adobe Flash and the integration of that version as a native plugin in Google Chrome. No information have been posted by the Chrome developers about a possible delay but tests during the Adobe Flash 10.1 release a few days ago showed that it took some time before Google Chrome was updated.

Another question that came up was if there was a way to check if the latest Adobe Flash Player (public release) version was installed in the Google browser. Chrome displays the Flash version on the about:plugins page in the browser. Adobe on the other hand does not seem to be providing the full version of the latest Adobe Flash Player release on their website, at least not anywhere near the download of the plugin.

The best way to check is to use the Plugin Check over at Mozilla. The web service displays the discovered plugins, their version and if they are up to date.

chrome flash plugin

The green up to date button indicates that the plugin is indeed the latest version of Adobe Flash Player. One question remain: How long does it take the Chrome developers to update the native Flash plugin after Flash has been updated?

The biggest change introduced in Flash 10.1 is hardware acceleration which is currently limited to Windows PCs with the prospect that it will be added at a later time to Mac and Linux versions of Flash.

But hardware acceleration is not the only new feature in Flash 10.1. Adobe has improved mobility support for instance by supporting multi-touch and gestures, mobile text input, accelerometer input, sleep mode or optimized SWF management for mobile devices.

Flash 10.1 has also been made compatible with the private browsing mode of Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. This compatibility ensures that no data is recorded while the browser is in that mode.

Flash Player 10.1 Features

• Globalization support
• Multi-touch and gestures
• Graphics hardware acceleration
• H.264 video hardware decoding
• Out-of-memory management
• HTTP streaming
• Stream reconnect
• Dynamic frame rate

The Adobe Labs website contains additional information about the new features of Flash 10.1.

The Adobe Flash Player 10.1 download is offered at the official Adobe website. Just select the operating system in step 1 and pick one of the available versions of Flash Player in the second step to initiate the download.

adobe flash player 101 download

It will be interesting to see how fast the Google Chrome developers manage to upgrade the native Flash plugin of the web browser. Ever period other in the next few hours would be disappointing to say the least.

An Adobe Flash Player security update has been made available not only for Flash Player users but also for users of other Adobe products including Adobe Air, Adobe Flex and Adobe Flash CS4 and CS3.

The security bulletin contains download links for all affected Adobe applications and it is recommended to update the products as soon as possible to patch the security vulnerability on the computer system.

Computer users who are not sure about the installed Flash Player version may visit the Adobe Flash Player page that contains a script that will retrieve and display the system’s Flash player version.

The Flash Player version check can be accessed here.

Adobe DLM, the DLM stands for DownLoad Manager, is a Firefox extension that gets installed during that process. Those users who accept the installation of Adobe DLM will install the download manager as a plugin in Firefox. Adobe DLM will be listed as getPlusPlus for Adobe 16253 in the Plugins listing of the web browser. The 16253 is most likely the version of the plugin and subject to change.

Adobe DLM will then launch a download manager upon the next start of Firefox. This download manager will open an UAC prompt in Windows Vista and Windows 7 and download the latest version of Adobe Flash afterwards.

The Adobe DLM plugin will remain in the plugin folder of the web browser even after that installation completes. Here is the way to install Adobe Flash without Adobe DLM:

• Open the Adobe Flash website in Firefox (or another web browser), click on the Agree and Install Now link.
• Firefox will now open a small row on top that informs the user that the installation of Adobe DLM has been blocked. Users who click on the allow button will install Adobe DLM. This is not needed to update or install Adobe Flash.
• Ignore the warning and locate the “click here to download link”. A click on that link will download the Adobe Flash installer to the local computer system.
• Close Firefox and every other web browser and double-click the Adobe Flash installation file to start the installation or update of Adobe Flash.

It is even easier by downloading this file from the Adobe website. The file automatically points to the latest official Flash Player release at Adobe.

How to remove Adobe DLM

Adobe DLM adds an entry to the Programs list in the Windows Control Panel. It can be uninstalled from there. Make sure all web browser windows are closed before performing the uninstallation.

Update:

Make sure to check for updates after the installation to verify that the latest version of Adobe Flash has been installed (one option to verify that is to look at the version number of the plugin in Firefox and compare that to the latest version posted on the Adobe website).

That’s where the Mozilla developers began thinking about solutions for this problem. They quickly came up with the solution to test the version of the Adobe Flash plugin after Firefox updates. Regular Firefox users know that Firefox will open a what’s new page after an update. This what’s new page will contain the Adobe Flash version check.

Firefox users with an outdated version of Adobe Flash will receive the notification that it is outdated. This information contains a link that is directly pointing to the latest version of Adobe Flash at the Adobe website. Hopes are that many users who are running an outdated version of Flash will visit the Adobe website after a Firefox update to download the latest version of Adobe Flash to install it on their computer system.

Users who want to try the Flash check right now can visit the upcoming what’s new page for Firefox 3.5.3.