Mozilla Blocks Flash Player on Firefox

UPDATE: Adobe on Tuesday released two updates(Opens in a new window) to patch the remaining Flash Player vulnerabilities on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

“These updates address critical vulnerabilities that could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system,” the Adobe Security Bulletin said.

Users can follow the online instructions(Opens in a new window) for upgrading their software. Adobe is also working with browser vendors, like Mozilla, to encourage users to stay up-to-date with the latest security updates.

Original Story:
Mozilla has blocked all versions of Adobe Flash Player in its Firefox browser after a recent breach left Flash vulnerable to attack.

“When Mozilla becomes aware of add-ons, plugins, or other third-party software that seriously compromises Firefox security, stability, or performance and meets certain criteria, the software may be blocked from general use,” Mozilla said(Opens in a new window).

Last week, Italy-based Hacking Team was breached and 400GB of sensitive data published online. That data revealed a Flash Player bug, which scammers quickly exploited.

Adobe released a patch for that bug, but it was not the only one(Opens in a new window). So on Sunday, Facebook’s chief security officer, Alex Stamos, suggested Adobe take a more drastic approach.

It is time for Adobe to announce the end-of-life date for Flash and to ask the browsers to set killbits on the same day.

— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) July 12, 2015(Opens in a new window)

Mozilla is the first browser maker to take action. On Monday, it announced that all versions of Flash are now blocked “by default” in Firefox until Adobe releases a more stable version. Users can, however, still enable Flash via the settings menu.

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BIG NEWS!! All versions of Flash are blocked by default in Firefox as of now. https://t.co/4SjVoqKPrR(Opens in a new window) #tech(Opens in a new window) #infosec(Opens in a new window) pic.twitter.com/VRws3L0CBW(Opens in a new window)

— Mark Schmidt (@MarkSchmidty) July 14, 2015(Opens in a new window)

To be clear, Flash is only blocked until Adobe releases a version which isn’t being actively exploited by publicly known vulnerabilities.

— Mark Schmidt (@MarkSchmidty) July 14, 2015(Opens in a new window)

In the meantime, the company is taking HTML5-based Shumway for a test drive, according to The Next Web(Opens in a new window).

Google’s Chrome browser, meanwhile, recently partnered with Adobe to pause non-essential Flash content. When a Chrome user visits a site running Flash, a video will play without interruption, while other animations are halted.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated on July 15 with comment from Adobe.