Adobe has released a critical security update that plugs at least a half-dozen security holes in its Shockwave media player software.
Adobe recommends users of Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.7.637 and earlier versions update to the newest version 11.6.8.638, available here. Updates are available for Windows and Mac systems. In its advisory on this update, Adobe says it is not aware of any active attacks against these flaws.
Before you try to update Shockwave, you should check to see if your system even has it installed. If you visit this link and see a short animation, it should tell you which version of Shockwave you have installed. If it prompts you to download Shockwave, then you don’t have Shockwave installed and in all likelihood don’t need it. If you update or install Shockwave, be on the lookout for pre-checked “extras”; my test installation of this update tried to foist a 30-day trial of Norton Internet Security.
Note that while Shockwave and Flash Player are both Adobe products, they are two separate things (Flash is far more abundant on the Web). I mention this because Flash Player still shows up as “Shockwave Flash” in Mozilla Firefox’s plugins listing. Incidentally, if you haven’t updated Flash Player to the latest version, you’ll want to take care of that now: The latest Flash Player update, released Oct. 8, fixes at least 25 security holes.
Shockwave is becoming more like Java for end-users. What sites actually require this? I can’t recall seeing one in a long time.
I totally agree Jason. I uninstalled Shockwave Player about 4 to 5 years ago (it’s so long ago I can’t remember exactly when) and I have never used it since.
Some eLearning or online courses do use it but its usually optional (i.e. I was still able to to complete online courses/assessments without using Shockwave).
Thanks.
I purged Shockwave off the kid’s MacBook Pros a while back and they have not complained. All the cruft on the various flash-game-arcade sites seem to work fine without it. Sadly, they still need Flash.