The company has released new updates for its in-house browser today

Sep 10, 2014 09:16 GMT  ·  By

Today, Microsoft has started shipping new updates for Windows and Internet Explorer as part of its monthly Patch Tuesday rollout, and in addition to improvements for this software, the company has also released a new version of Flash Player for its in-house browser.

As we reported to you yesterday, Adobe introduced a new Flash Player version, but due to the fact that Microsoft decided to implement it directly into Internet Explorer, all new releases are automatically distributed to users via Windows Update.

This really comes in handy to everyone running Windows and Internet Explorer, pretty much because everything is performed automatically and without requiring any user interaction.

Windows 8 and 8.1 getting it via Windows Update

Still, Flash Player is directly integrated only into Internet Explorer 10 and 11, so in case you are running an older version of the browser, you need to manually download and install the new version.

Microsoft says that this update is specifically developed to address vulnerabilities in Flash Player, so it’s critical for users to install it in order to remain secure.

“This security update for Adobe Flash Player in Internet Explorer 10 and 11 on supported editions of Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 is also available. The details of the vulnerabilities are documented in Adobe security bulletin APSB14-21,” Microsoft says.

“This update addresses the vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player by updating the affected Adobe Flash binaries contained within Internet Explorer 10 and Internet Explorer 11.”

Windows Update needs to be enabled

One very important thing for Internet Explorer users is to keep Windows Update turned on all the time in order to receive new patches, including the fresh version of Flash Player.

Microsoft explains that everyone running Windows and keeping the automatic update feature turned off will have to manually download and install the new Flash Player build, which in most cases takes more time and a bit more computer knowledge.

The new Flash Player version is part of Microsoft Security Bulletin MS14-052, which also corrects one publicly disclosed vulnerability and 25 privately reported flaws in the browser.

“The most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using Internet Explorer. An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the current user. Customers whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights,” the company said in an announcement.