Apple Forces Users to Upgrade to Newest Adobe Flash Player to Patch Vulnerabilities - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Forces Users to Upgrade to Newest Adobe Flash Player to Patch Vulnerabilities

by

Apple yesterday posted a new support document and sent an email to its security mailing list noting that it is now requiring all OS X users to upgrade to the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player plug-in for Safari to address potential security vulnerabilities.

The company is blocking all older versions Adobe Flash Player prior to 16.0.0.305, and users with an out-of-date version of the plug-in will see messages like "Blocked plug-in" or "Flash out-of-date" when attempting to view Flash content within Safari before updating to the newest version.

flashoutofdate
For users who are on systems that are not able to run Flash Player 16, there is an update to Flash Player 13 (13.0.0.269) that addresses the latest vulnerabilities.

APPLE-SA-2015-02-05-1 OS X: Flash Player plug-in blocked

Due to security issues in older versions, Apple has updated the web plug-in blocking mechanism to disable all versions prior to Flash Player 16.0.0.305 and 13.0.0.269.

The 16.0.0.305 and 13.0.0.269 updates were released by Adobe on February 5 to fix a zero-day vulnerability that was being exploited by hackers against Windows machines.

Top Rated Comments

146 months ago
I can't wait until Flash finally goes away for good.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HiRez Avatar
146 months ago
I think I updated Flash three times now in the last week. Such a clunky and annoying way of doing it.
It's incredibly annoying, I swear it asks about 10X per month to update and the whole process sucks. And it just nags you every time until you drop everything and do it (pretty much requiring you to close down every running app for every user account), or a bunch of web sites just stop working. And if you have 3 Macs like I do you go through it that many more times.

Die, Flash, DIE!!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CrickettGrrrl Avatar
146 months ago
I removed Adobe Flash & Reader off all the computers in the house yesterday. Felt good, like having clean closets.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gav2k Avatar
146 months ago
I don't have flash installed any more!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
noisycats Avatar
146 months ago
GD I hate flash! Just die already.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SockRolid Avatar
146 months ago
Yup. Flash continues to suck.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

macOS 27 on MacBook Pro

macOS 27 Will Mark the End of an Era

Saturday April 18, 2026 6:45 am PDT by
During its Platforms State of the Union segment at WWDC 2025, Apple revealed that macOS 26 Tahoe is the final major macOS version for Intel-based Macs. The upcoming macOS 27 release will be compatible with Apple silicon Macs only, meaning that you will need a Mac with an M-series chip or a MacBook Neo with an A18 Pro chip in order to install the software update. macOS 27 should be available...
Aston Martin CarPlay Ultra Screen

Apple Says CarPlay Ultra is Coming to These Vehicle Brands

Saturday April 18, 2026 5:59 am PDT by
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon. In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. CarPlay Ultra...
Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple CEO Tim Cook Stepping Down, John Ternus Taking Over

Monday April 20, 2026 1:33 pm PDT by
Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down as Apple's chief executive officer, and hardware engineering chief John Ternus is set to take over, Apple announced today. Cook will continue on as Apple CEO through the summer, with Ternus set to join Apple's Board of Directors and take over as CEO on September 1, 2026. Cook is going to transition to executive chairman, and he will "assist with certain...