Adobe to fix critical flaws

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Adobe will fix some critical security issues in its Reader and Acrobat products this month, affecting various versions of the software.

Updates are expected to be rolled out during the week commencing 16 August, according to a security advisory.

The affected software includes Adobe Reader 9.3.3 for Windows, Mac and UNIX, as well as Acrobat 9.3.3 for Windows and Mac, and Reader 8.2.3 and Acrobat 8.2.3 for Windows and Mac.

The fixes are out-of-cycle releases, Adobe explained, and there will be another security update for Reader and Acrobat software on 12 October.

The security flaw was uncovered by Charlie Miller, a researcher at Independent Security Evaluators, during the Black Hat USA 2010 security conference in July.

The vulnerability could be exploited when maliciously-designed TrueType font is embedded into a PDF, allowing memory to be corrupted, according to security advisory provider Secunia.

Adobe recently joined the Microsoft Active Protections Program, allowing the Flash creator to share security information about such vulnerabilities with the other 65 members of the initiative.

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