Acrobat and Reader updates close security vulnerabilities
Vulnerabilities like these that have been left unlatched have resulted in recent malware on OS X, so be sure to apply even the smallest updates for software that you use.
The default options for viewing PDF documents in OS X are Apple's built-in rendering technologies available in Safari and Preview; however, there are times when some documents will not display properly in these programs. In these instances, you can use Adobe Reader and its accompanying Web plug-in to usually view these documents with success.
For those who use Adobe's Reader and Acrobat programs, Adobe has issued an update that fixes a couple of security holes in the program that could cause the program to crash and allow arbitrary execution of code. While this reasoning has been regularly issued with software updates from Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, and other companies, the latest news regarding malware on OS X should exemplify why these bugs are fixed and why users should apply even the smallest software patches.
The updates released today are for Adobe Reader X (10.1.3) and Adobe Reader (9.5.1) for those who cannot install the preferred Reader X software. Currently the vulnerabilities in Reader and Acrobat have only been exploited in Windows versions of the software, but there is a possibility that the Mac versions of this software could be targeted as well.
In addition to fixing security flaws, the Reader and Acrobat updates address problems with loading their accompanying Web plug-ins in Safari under 64-bit mode (the default mode for current and recent versions of Safari).
These updates are available on the Adobe Web site at the following locations:
- Adobe Reader 10.1.3 for Mac (69.71MB)
- Adobe Acrobat 10.1.3 Pro for Mac (137MB)
- Adobe Reader 9.5.1 update for Intel Macs (7.76MB)
- Adobe Reader 9.5.1 update for PowerPC Macs (7.09MB)
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