Weekend Vulnerability & Patch Report, June 19, 2011

The following software updates were released last week. Citadel Information Group strongly recommends that readers upgrade these programs on their computers.

Adobe Acrobat & PDF Reader: Adobe issued more than a dozen security updates for Acrobat and PDF Reader programs, including a feature update that will install future updates automatically. Readers can update these programs from the program under “Help > Check for Updates.”

Adobe Flash 10.3.181.26. Adobe has issued another update for its Flash player. The update is available from Adobe’s Download Center. Users running Internet Explorer and other browsers have to install the update twice, once in IE and once in either Mozilla or Opera. If you run Google Chrome, make sure you have the latest version 12.0.742.100. This fixes the Flash vulnerability in Chrome.

Microsoft Update Fixes 34 Security Flaws. Microsoft rated more than half of these updates “critical.” Readers can check the Security section of the Windows Control Panel to make sure updates have been installed

Newly Announced Unpatched Vulnerabilities (Zero-Days)

Microsoft Word: A highly critical zero-day vulnerability has been found in Microsoft Word XP and 2002. No patch is available at this time.

Mozilla Firefox: A non-critical zero-day vulnerability has been discovered in Firefox, version 4.0.1. Mozilla is scheduled to release an update on June 21.

Important Unpatched Zero-Day Vulnerabilities.

ACDSee Photo: Several highly critical zero-day vulnerabilities have been identified in various ACDSee photo products. Zero-day vulnerabilities have been identified in FotoSlate, Photo Editor 2008, and Picture Frame Manager. No patches are available at this time. We first alerted readers to this vulnerability in Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report, June 12.

Apple Safari 5.x: The critical zero-day vulnerability in Safari 5.x continues to be unpatched. We continue to consider Safari unsafe for browsing. We first alerted readers to this vulnerability in Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report, February 18.

Google Chrome 11.x: A highly critical zero-day vulnerability has been identified in Google Chrome, version 11.x. No patch is available at this time. Readers are urged to upgrade to version 12.0.742.91 or later. We first alerted readers to this vulnerability in Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report, June 12.

HTC Mobile Devices: The zero-day security vulnerability in the default Twitter application (Peep) in HTC products remain unpatched. We first alerted readers to this vulnerability in Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report, February 11.

Microsoft Office for Mac: A highly critical zero-day vulnerability has been discovered in Microsoft Office for the Mac which can be exploited by cyber criminals to take control of a user’s computer. Security updates are currently unavailable. We first alerted readers to this vulnerability in Weekend Vulnerability & Patch Report, May 13, 2011.

Microsoft Reader: The highly critical zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Reader, versions 2.x, remains unpatched.  We first alerted readers to this vulnerability in Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report, April 15.

PDF-Pro: Several highly critical zero-day vulnerabilities in PDF-Pro, a popular alternative to Adobe Acrobat, remain unpatched. We first alerted readers to this vulnerability in Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report, March 4.

Symantec Mail Security: Multiple highly critical zero-day vulnerabilities have been reported in Symantec Mail Security. Systems affected include Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange 6.x, Domino 7.x and Domino 8.x. No patches are available at this time. Readers in corporate environments using Microsoft Exchange or Domino are urged to forward this notice to their IT personnel so they may take appropriate action. We first alerted readers to this vulnerability in Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report, June 12.

If you are responsible for keeping your computer secure, our weekly report is for you. We strongly urge you to take action to keep your workstation secure.

If someone else is responsible for keeping your computer secure, protect it by forwarding our Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report to them and following up to make sure your computer has been patched.

Vulnerability management is a key element of cyber security management. Cyber criminals take over user computers by writing computer programs that “exploit” vulnerabilities in operating systems (Windows, Apple OS, etc) and application programs (Adobe Acrobat, Office, Flash, Java, etc). When software companies find a vulnerability, they will issue an update patch to fix the code running in their customer’s computers.

Citadel publishes our Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report to alert readers to some of the week’s important updates and vulnerabilities. Our focus is on software typically found in the small or home office (SOHO) or that users are likely to have on their home computer. The report is not intended to be a thorough listing of updates and vulnerabilities.