Adobe admits to critical software flaws

Adobe's Reader and Acrobat could allow hackers to upload malicious programs

Adobe has admitted that some of its software contains vulnerabilities that could leave computers open to attack, following information published on the Heise Security website.

Following the exposure, Adobe posted information on its Security Bulletins and Advisories page about the vulnerability.

The document and imaging company said that its Adobe Reader and Acrobat software could allow hackers to upload malicious programs onto a user's PC.

The problems are thought to affect only computers running Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP.

Adobe said that it is working on a fix, but that the necessary updates might not be available until the end of October.

"Having researched and verified the vulnerability, Adobe expects to provide an update to versions 8.1 of Adobe Reader and Acrobat before the end of October that will resolve the issue," said the firm in an official statement.

Adobe added that, in the meantime, it will make information about a workaround available to users to allow them to protect themselves.

"As always, Adobe recommends users exercise scepticism and caution when in receipt of unsolicited email communications requesting user action, such as opening attachments or clicking web links," the company warned.

The issue echoes other critical problems announced earlier this week, which affected the company's Illustrator, GoLive and Pagemaker software.

However, in these cases, Adobe released updates to repair the problems at the same time as announcing the flaws.

A security bulletin will be published on the company's Security Bulletins and Advisories site when a fix for the current problem is ready.