Adobe Systems Inc, whose software is used by millions of people to read documents sent over Internet, said on Wednesday, some of its programmes contain yet-to-be-fixed flaws that make computers vulnerable to attack.
Adobe posted a notice on its web site that said it had unknowingly incorporated vulnerabilities into versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat software that could allow malicious programmes to get on to a PC without user’s knowledge.
Such malicious software can take control of a machine and steal confidential data, send out tens of thousands of spam e-mails, or infiltrate government computer systems.
Adobe said it believes the flaws only affect computers running Microsoft Corp’s Windows XP operating system and Internet Explorer 7 Web browser. Adobe said it was working to rectify the problem but fix might not be available until end of October.
Hackers sometimes hide malicious software inside Microsoft Word documents and photo files, hobbling computers when users open them. Some security experts said that what makes Adobe case disturbing is that it came to light before the company had a solution to fix the problem, which means hackers have an opportunity to exploit the situation.
Critical problems
Earlier, on Tuesday, Adobe disclosed “critical problems” in versions of three design programmes, GoLive, Illustrator and Pagemaker, and simultaneously released software to repair the problems. Adobe has posted instructions on its web site for working around the problem, www.adobe.com/support/security/. Adobe said PC users, who are unable to programme that database to fix it, may need to wait until the software itself is fixed. It said it would notify users on its web site. Rival browsers Firefox, www.firefox.com, and Opera, www.opera.com, have not reported any similar problems.