Another new version of Google’s web browser was announced today. Version 25.0.1364.152 includes fixes for several security vulnerabilities.
Since Flash isn’t mentioned in the release notes, presumably the version of Flash included in the new version is still 11.6.602.171. Let’s see… okay, I just updated Chrome to 25.0.1364.152, and the integrated Flash is definitely still 11.6.602.171.
A few days ago, Adam Gowdiak of Security Explorations discovered vulnerabilities in the most recent version of Java, 7u15.
Oracle’s response was to deny that the problem existed. So Adam got to work, testing Java 7u15 in more detail, and checking his results against the published Java documentation. He was able to confirm that his original report was legitimate, and he also found five more new vulnerabilities along the way. All of this information has been passed on to Oracle. Will they believe him this time? I’m betting yes.
The hits just keep on coming for Java. As fast as Oracle/Sun plugs (or tries, but fails to plug) one hole, another is discovered by independent security researchers.
This time, it’s the security research team at FireEye that have found vulnerabilities in the latest Java, version 7u15, as well as the most recent 6-series version (6u41).
Making matters worse, the new vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild: a remote access trojan is being installed on affected computers.
In other words, even if you have the latest version of Java, you can be hit by this exploit. As always, if you don’t actually need Java enabled in your browser, disable it. If that’s not an option, be extremely wary of browsing web sites that you don’t know for sure are safe.
A few days ago, I posed a series of questions about Flash in Chrome. Since then, I’ve done some digging, and I’m now able to answer most of those questions.
On February 26, Adobe announced version 11.6.602.171 of the Flash player. As usual, Adobe says: “These updates address vulnerabilities that could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.” The technical details are available in Adobe Security Bulletin APSB13-08.
Microsoft simultaneously announced a Flash update for Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8, which will be delivered via Windows Update.
Google will no doubt release a new version of Chrome that includes the Flash updates in the next day or so.
Anyone who uses Flash in their web browser should install the appropriate update as soon as possible. That includes anyone who uses Youtube. So basically just about everyone.
If you’re interested in using Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 7, head over to this Microsoft Downloads page.
Windows 7 users with autoupdate enabled will be upgraded to IE10 in the coming weeks. Currently, the new version doesn’t appear in Windows Update, but that will also change in the near future.
IE10 is much the same as IE9, but includes Javascript performance improvements, integrated spell-checking/correcting and better adherence to web standards like CSS3.
Oh no, not again! Adam Gowdiak of the Security Explorations research team has been hard at work, looking for holes in the latest Java (7u15). Here’s a quote from Mr. Gowdiak’s alert email:
We had yet another look into Oracle’s Java SE 7 software that was released by the company on Feb 19, 2013. As a result, we have discovered two new security issues (numbered 54 and 55), which when combined together can be successfully used to gain a complete Java security sandbox bypass in the environment of Java SE 7 Update 15 (1.7.0_15-b03).
Gowdiak has submitted his findings to Java’s developers, but there has been no official confirmation from Oracle/Sun as yet. Still, I’m cautioning Java users – especially those of us who have Java enabled in our web browsers – to exercise extreme caution, and flagging Java 7u15 as possibly vulnerable.
Version 25.0.1364.97 of Google’s Chrome web browser was announced yesterday.
The new version includes several security and other bug fixes, as well as some new features for web developers and voice recognition.
No mention of Java is made in the announcement linked above, but presumably the most recent Java security fixes found their way into this Chrome release.
Starting with this version, Chrome extension updates are no longer installed ‘silently’. This is a welcome improvement in security.
As expected, Adobe has announced updates for its Reader and Acrobat software to address recently-revealed security vulnerabilities. The full technical details are available in the related security bulletin.
In yet another move guaranteed to alienate users, Microsoft has decided to make using its new version of Office more difficult and expensive.
Until Office 2013, it’s been possible to transfer the software from one computer to another, and to re-install it on an upgraded computer. Microsoft even allowed people who used Office at work to install and use it on their home computers as well. This sort of realistic flexibility made it a lot easier to justify the rather hefty price tag for Office.
Unfortunately, with Office 2012, one set of Office media will be wedded to one particular computer forever. Non-transferable; one computer only.
As Peter Bright rightly points out in the post linked above, this penalizes a particular segment of computer users: the enthusiast. This includes a lot of the people who write about software and computers, so Microsoft can expect a lot more public backlash against this decision, as well as a general increase in the move away from MS Office toward alternatives like Apache OpenOffice, LibreOffice, NeoOffice, and Google Docs. Any conceivable increase in revenue stemming from this decision will be outweighed by these losses.
It seems clear that Microsoft is hell bent on driving away enthusiast/hobbyist/power users. Windows 8 is another example of Microsoft’s hostility toward power users.
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