Adobe Flash Player and Reader with Critical Security Advisory
Adobe announced a critical vulnerability for its Flash Player 9.0.159.0 and 10.0.22.87 and earlier, along with the authplay.dll component in its Reader and Acrobat 9.x., that goes across platforms in Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris.
System crashes and exploits are possible as a result. The CVE-2009-1862 vulnerability is already causing exploits in Adobe Reader, according to the Adobe security bulletin. The reports of these "limited, targeted attacks" are currently under Windows only.
Adobe is venturing to fix this problem for the Flash Player 9 and 10 release on July 30 for all platforms except Solaris, which should come a bit later. Reader and Adobe 9.1.2 should be addressed July 31 for Windows, Mac and UNIX.
A workaround in the meantime is to remove or rename authplay.dll in Reader and Acrobat, although a non-exploitable crash or error message could then occur when opening a PDF with Small Web Format (SWF) content, such as animated vector graphics. Adobe cautions about browsing untrusted websites (keeping antivirus definitions up to date) or even advises uninstalling the software.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.