Microsoft Recommends XP Users to Update Flash Player

Microsoft, on January 12, 2010, alerted everyone via a security advisory that there were multiple bugs in Flash Player, which came packaged with Windows XP. The company therefore recommended users to immediately replace their existing version of Flash Player with its latest edition.

Actually, Microsoft has drawn attention to a critical security flaw within the ActiveX control, featured in Flash Player 6.x. This version i.e. Flash Player 6.x is a default utility for Windows XP. It's reported that the bug lets hackers to compromise computers through certain malware infection delivered via maliciously constructed web-pages.

Further, the problem affects Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows XP Service Pack 2 and can also harm users of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2.

However, Secunia presented a slightly more precise advisory as compared to Microsoft's, concluding that reactions from different companies led the flaw to be reported.

Secunia's advisory reveals that Microsoft declared the vulnerability way back on October 18, 2007. While the software giant tried to solve the issue with the help of a patch (MS06-069), according to Secunia, it turned out unsuccessful. Subsequently, during 2008-09, information was exchanged among Secunia, Adobe and Microsoft and it was concluded that the sole solution was in uninstalling the Flash Player.

Actually, when Adobe stopped backing version 6 in 2006, Microsoft suggested users to remove Flash Player 6 from their Windows XP. This act could, however, affect browsing as most Web content was based on Flash. Therefore, the only alternative was to upgrade to the recent version of the Flash Player (i.e. 10.0.42.34), which is available on Adobe's website.

Secunia further reported that there's one more critical hole in previous ActiveX control, but it has been removed with the Player's recent versions.

Since Flash Player is the most widely used desktop software, it's vital that all users of Windows XP heed to Microsoft's warning.

Finally, according to security analysts, any Windows XP operator who has been updating Flash Player on his computer has little (or apparently nothing) to worry about. The users can discover which version of Flash they are making use of by simply heading on to the detection page of Adobe.

Related article: Microsoft Patches Live OneCare to Tackle Quarantined E-Mails

» SPAMfighter News - 1/26/2010