Open Safari, and choose Safari Preferences. Click the Websites tab and scroll down to the Plug-ins section. Locate the Adobe Flash Player entry. Click the checkbox to enable Flash Player.
Ugh, another Flash exploit?! BGR reported Thursday that Adobe has confirmed “a major security vulnerability that affects all versions of Flash for Windows, Mac, and Linux.” Adobe says this vulnerability is being used by hackers, although for very targeted attacks—phishing, in other words.
“Successful exploitation could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system,” Adobe says in its security bulletin.
Well, that’s just great.
Trend Micro, which discovered the flaw, says that targets are receiving phishing emails with URLs that look like news articles, sent to “several foreign affairs ministries from around the globe.” I don’t work for a foreign affairs ministry and you might not either, but nothing is stopping other hackers from taking advantage of the same flaw.
- Before you upgrade to Catalina, we recommend that you uninstall your 32-bit Adobe apps. Older uninstallers are also 32-bit apps and don't work in Catalina. If you already upgraded to Catalina, you can use the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool to uninstall older versions of Creative Cloud apps.
- Adobe Flash Player is one of the most impersonated pieces of software on the Internet. If you're not careful, you can accidentally install adware instead of.
We all like to think we’re smart enough to avoid phishing scams—and I’m sure you are! And we’d like to think Adobe will get this patched soon—the company says it hopes to do that next week. But if you really want to be safe from this flaw, and the next, and the next, and the next, there’s one foolproof step you can take: Uninstall Flash.
How to uninstall Flash
To get Flash off of your Mac for good, you’ll need an uninstaller from Adobe. There are distinct versions for OS X 10.6 and later, for 10.4 and 10.5, and even one for 10.1 to 10.3.
Find the uninstaller for the version of OS X that you have. (If you aren’t sure, just click the Apple logo in your menu bar and select About This Mac. The popup window will say.) Click its link to download it to your Downloads folder.
When you launch the uninstaller from your Downloads folder, it runs, and you have to click Uninstall. Just in case you launched the uninstaller but didn’t want to uninstall anything, I guess.
After you enter your account password, you’re prompted to close all your browsers. The uninstaller can do that, or you can quit them yourself.
The uninstaller will do its thing and let you know when it’s done.
Once it’s finished, Adobe recommends you delete a couple of folders from your Library too. To open your home directory’s Library folder, go to the Finder, click Go in the menu bar, and then hold down the Option key to make the Library folder appear in the drop-down menu. Open it, and then find and destroy these two folders:
(Note that Adobe’s instructions don’t include deleting those folders if you are running Mac OS 10.1 to 10.3. Most of you are probably on 10.4 Tiger at least by now.)
If you want to make sure it’s really gone, go to Adobe’s Flash Player Help page and click the Check Now button to check if it’s on your computer.
If you ever want to get Flash again, just re-download the latest version directly from Adobe. It’s a terrible idea to get it anywhere else.
Do you use Flash, or have you kicked it to the curb once and for all? Sound off in the comments!
Can I use my Adobe apps in macOS Catalina 10.15?
We've updated most current apps to 64-bit architecture. The following versions work in Catalina, but have these known issues.
| Adobe app | Version(s) compatible with Catalina |
|---|---|
| Adobe Creative Cloud apps | 2021 2020 |
| Acrobat Pro DC, Acrobat Standard DC | 2019 and later (subscription or non-subscription) |
| Adobe Acrobat Pro 2017, Adobe Acrobat Standard 2017 | 2017 |
| Adobe Acrobat Pro 2020, Adobe Acrobat Standard 2020 | 2020 |
| Adobe Connect | 11.2, 11 |
| Adobe Digital Editions | 4.5 |
| Adobe Photoshop Elements | 2021 2020 |
| Adobe Premiere Elements | 2021 2020 |
Most older Adobe apps were created using 32-bit architecture and do not work in Catalina. We have no plans to update apps that we no longer support or develop. The following table lists some common 32-bit Adobe apps that are not compatible with Catalina. (It is not a comprehensive list of all older 32-bit Adobe apps.)
| Adobe Product | Status and alternatives |
| Creative Cloud apps – 2018 release and earlier | No updates planned. We recommend that you upgrade to the latest release of Creative Cloud apps. |
| Adobe Captivate | Update scheduled end of 2019 |
| Creative Suite apps | No updates planned. We recommend that you upgrade to Creative Cloud. |
| Fuse | No updates planned. Find free characters on Mixamo. |
| Adobe Presenter Video Express | No updates planned. We recommend moving to Adobe Captivate. |
| SpeedGrade | No updates planned. Certain features have been integrated into Premiere Pro, which is 64-bit compliant. |
Uninstall 32-bit apps before upgrading to Catalina
Before you upgrade to Catalina, we recommend that you uninstall your 32-bit Adobe apps. Older uninstallers are also 32-bit apps and don't work in Catalina.
If you already upgraded to Catalina, you can use the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool to uninstall older versions of Creative Cloud apps.
If you've kept Acrobat DC or Creative Cloud apps up to date, they are already 64-bit compliant.
You can update your apps using the Creative Cloud desktop app. See how to update your apps to the latest versions.
Are there issues using current Adobe apps in Catalina?
See the following documents for known issues with Adobe apps and macOS Catalina:
Adobe Flash Player For Mac Catalina
- Enterprise: Known issues with Creative Cloud packages on macOS Catalina
Adobe Flash Player For Mac Os Catalina
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