Adobe has released a new version of Flash Player that fixes 52 vulnerabilities of which some allowed an attacker to take full control over the computer. Visiting a hacked or malicious website or viewing a malicious advertisement was sufficient to become a victim. The attacker could also take full control over the computer when an user opened a specially crafted Word document with Flash object.
This was possible with 49 of the 52 vulnerabilities, the other 3 caused memory leaks and allowed an attacker to retrieve certain information about the computer. The vulnerabilities are currently not actively attacked but cybercriminals usually start to exploit vulnerabilities quickly after updates are released. It's therefore recommended to upgrade as soon as possible to Flash Player 22.0.0.209.
It's possible to upgrade on the Adobe's website. Most modern browsers will automatically update the embedded Flash Player. Through this page on the Adobe website it's possible to see which Flash Player is currently installed.
