Adobe released an important Flash Player patch to fix a vulnerability over the weekend affecting those who have the Flash Player plugin installed. The vulnerability, labeled CVE-2015-0311, was featured in the “Angler Exploit Kit,” a toolkit used by hackers. The Angler Exploit Kit is a toolkit that helps hackers initiate mass drive-by-download attacks. Drive-by-download attacks quietly put malware on your computer when you view malicious ads or visit unsecured websites.
The hackers silently install malware on users’ computers when they visit compromised websites or view malicious ads in their browsers. The ads then make their way onto legit websites when the hackers mimic genuine advertisements. The exploit affects the following Adobe Flash Players:
- Adobe Flash Player 16.0.0.287 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh
- Adobe Flash Player 13.0.0.262 and earlier 13.x versions
- Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.438 and earlier versions for Linux
The vulnerability affects browsers running Flash Player in Mozilla Firefox, all versions of Internet Explorer running Windows 8.1 or earlier, and Google Chrome. Adobe has not formally announced the official release yet, but you can download the manual Adobe Flash Player in the link below. Let us know if you have been affected by this Adobe Flash Player exploit in the comments section.