Adobe Flash zero-day exploit threatens PCs

News outlets are reporting that a previously unknown security flaw in the Flash multimedia plugin is exposing Windows-based PCs to risk. The exploit affects Adobe Flash Player 9.0.115.0 and 9.0.124.0, allowing execution of arbitrary code. Sources say thousands of web pages, which have been compromised earlier via SQL injections and other hacking techniques, are already redirecting browsers to malware sites containing the Flash exploit code.

"Zero-day exploits" are security flaws that are still unpatched and potentially dangerous on the day when they are announced publicly. In some previous cases of a zero day exploit, third party fixes were made available before the company producing the affected software was able to respond.

Given the popularity of Flash media on the web and the ubiquitous presence of the Flash plugin in browsers, this is a serious issue. Adobe's Product Security Incident Response Team announced they are working with Symantec to investigate the potential SWF vulnerability.