Microsoft patches Flash for Windows 8

Microsoft over the weekend patched bugs in the baked-in Flash in its Windows 8 operating system, to protect users of default browser Internet Explorer 10.

 

A report on PC World said Windows 8 users can get the Flash update through the Windows Update service, or Windows Server Update Services.

 

With the patching, PC World said Microsoft has fulfilled its promise last September 11 to patch Windows 8's Flash Player.

 

But PC World also noted the patch came months after the vulnerabilities in Flash were first discovered.

 

Microsoft's Windows 8 is to hit store shelves in late October.

 

While Flash is a product of Adobe, Microsoft is responsible for patching Flash in Windows 8 because Flash in this case is integrated into IE 10.

 

"Although Adobe shipped a pair of security updates in August that patched eight vulnerabilities, Windows 8 RTM, the finished code that began reaching users that same month, lacked those fixes," PC World noted.

 

It added hackers had already exploited one of the eight bugs in Flash and used it to take control of computers running Windows.

 

Meanwhile, PC World said Yunsun Wee, director of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing team, said Microsoft will coordinate with Adobe on the timing of Flash updates.

 

"On a quarterly basis when Adobe normally issues Flash Player updates, we will coordinate on disclosure and release timing," Wee said.

 

It also quoted Wee as saying Microsoft will need to deliver "out-of-band" updates to keep Flash in Windows 8 and IE 10 current with the Flash plug-ins for other browsers. — TJD, GMA News