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Adobe Flash update contains undisclosed bloatware - what to do?

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  • Last reply by greentech70

greentech70
greentech70
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Opening Firefox 6 beta I received the same bogus 'security update for Adobe Flash Player" to version 10.30138.5 that I got last week on Firefox 5.0.1 -- this file contains undisclosed, and nearly non-uninstallable malware, unwanted and unnecessary from either Google (The Google Toolbar) or McAfee (McAfee Security Plus) that is not mentioned before the file is downloaded, or after the file is downloaded and unpacked, but before installing. Luckily my security software caught this hidden attempt to install unasked for software in the guise of a safety update from Adobe (perhaps there is a safety update in the compressed file, "install_flashplayer10_abcd.exe" - my security s/w showed two files, one hidden in there, with the warning, "This item appears to contains a malicious or potentially malicious malware" -- depending on the four letter file code before the .exe the security installation file contains "gtoolbar.exe" or the mcafee setup file as well as the flash player update. I reported this matter to Adobe last week, never thinking Adobe would have consented, or even been paid to do this, but from the Internet chatter I found afterward, it seems either Adobe's safety flash player update was hijacked and corrupted illegally, or else Adobe was paid to hide and fail to disclose at any point, the existence of a second file, which most people characterize as qwapware.

Opening Firefox 6 beta I received the same bogus 'security update for Adobe Flash Player" to version 10.30138.5 that I got last week on Firefox 5.0.1 -- this file contains undisclosed, and nearly non-uninstallable malware, unwanted and unnecessary from either Google (The Google Toolbar) or McAfee (McAfee Security Plus) that is not mentioned before the file is downloaded, or after the file is downloaded and unpacked, but before installing. Luckily my security software caught this hidden attempt to install unasked for software in the guise of a safety update from Adobe (perhaps there is a safety update in the compressed file, "install_flashplayer10_abcd.exe" - my security s/w showed two files, one hidden in there, with the warning, "This item appears to contains a malicious or potentially malicious malware" -- depending on the four letter file code before the ''.exe'' the security installation file contains "gtoolbar.exe" or the mcafee setup file as well as the flash player update. I reported this matter to Adobe last week, never thinking Adobe would have consented, or even been paid to do this, but from the Internet chatter I found afterward, it seems either Adobe's safety flash player update was hijacked and corrupted illegally, or else Adobe was paid to hide and fail to disclose at any point, the existence of a second file, which most people characterize as qwapware.

All Replies (2)

the-edmeister
the-edmeister
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Complain to Adobe about that. BTW, the Google Toolbar is dead for Firefox 5.0 and later versions - it is now an IE-only thing.

The last time I installed Flash, I had to de-select the "option" to install the Ask.com Toolbar.

Here's a screenshot of what Oracle / Java tried to install when I last installed Java - a Yahoo Toolbar. If you don't read and observe every installation screen very carefully you'd miss seeing that.

greentech70
greentech70 Question owner
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23AUG11 - First the Firefox 7beta has none of the display problems which I had with versions 5. and 6 beta - and which still happens with FF6x.

Glad to hear it is no longeer an issue with newest flavors of FF

I did complain to Adobe, and got no response -- and according to the Internet sites which popped up on my cursory search, so did a lot of other people who also got no response.

About the permission windows and buttons -- on this alleged security update from flash 10.3.131 or 134 to 10.3.138.5 there were no such windows, buttons or screens before downloading, after downloading, or after decompressing prior to the installation -- my security s/w blocked the dld the install_flash10_xyzb_cbgc.exe" files, regardless of the alpha characters to the immediate left of the ".exe" and showed two files inside the install file where there should only have been one.

As you noted this is apparently now only an Interenet Explorer issue -- somehow despite my security s/w blocking and removing the several versions of the Adobe "install_flash10*.exe" file, one got through and installed itself silently to Internet Explorer 8.

Didn't discover it until much later, and had to go to "Add/Remove Software" applet in the control panel - the normal 'disable' or 'uninstall' choices from the browser were not even available.

This week I've seen a couple of Adobe Flash Player updates announce themselves, attempting to get permission to update the flash player or the flash player plugin, e.g. for Firefox 6x, but now I scan all such files before using them,no matter if the security of the Sugar Plum Fairy is alleged to be at risk -- any files which contain multiple files within them before unpacking to setup are simply deleted or quarantined, and removed from the system..

I thought the display problems with FF5x and 6 beta were due to Java console incompatibilities, or something related I was just too close to see, but with Firefox 7 beta working so well, I've had to discard that possible solution.

Has anyone heard how much Adobe was paid by Google and McAfee to do this, or are they maybe claiming the install_flash10_*.exe" files were hijacked and the google toolbar or mcAfee Security plus files injected into them (which is how a biological virus attacks a potential host/victim organism?

Thanks for your time and thougnts about the problems I was having.

Don't know quite what to do about Adobe -- I've been using their commercial and free products, teaching them and teaching using them for nearly 20 years and I don't remember an issue like this coming up before.

With appreciation, greentech70