Apple has told users via a support document posted on Thursday that it is now requiring all OS X users to upgrade to the latest version of the Adobe Flash Media Player plug-in for the Safari browser. The update is required due to potential security vulnerabilities.
The company is blocking all older versions Adobe Flash Player prior to 16.0.0.305, and users with an out-of-date version of the plug-in will see messages like “Blocked plug-in” or “Flash out-of-date” when attempting to view Flash content within Safari before updating to the newest version.
Users who are on versions of OS X that are not able to run Flash Player 16 can update to Flash Player 13 (13.0.0.269) which addresses the latest vulnerabilities.
The 16.0.0.305 and 13.0.0.269 updates were released by Adobe on February 5 to fix a zero-day vulnerability that was being exploited by hackers against Windows machines.
From the Apple Support Document:
If you’re using an out-of-date version of the Adobe Flash Player plug-in, you may see the message “Blocked plug-in,” “Flash Security Alert,” or “Flash out-of-date” when attempting to view Flash content in Safari.
Clicking the indicator displays a message that Adobe Flash Player is out of date:
To continue viewing Flash content, update to a later version of Adobe Flash Player:
- Click the Download Flash button. Safari opens the Adobe Flash Player page on the Adobe website.
- Follow the instructions on the Adobe website to download and install the latest version of the plug-in.
If you need to use an older version of Flash Player, you can use Internet plug-in management in Safari to run the plug-in in unsafe mode for websites that you trust.
Contact Adobe if you need help downloading, installing, or using Adobe Flash Player.
