Mozilla Blocks All Versions of Flash in Firefox

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Posted July 14, 2015 at 10:08pm by iClarified

Mozilla has blocked all current versions of Flash in its Firefox browser as of its latest update, according to Support Lead Mark Schmidt.

The developer tweeted the news last night:

BIG NEWS!! All versions of Flash are blocked by default in Firefox as of now.

However, Schmidt noted that this does not mean that Flash will be blocked by default going forward.

To be clear, Flash is only blocked until Adobe releases a version which isn't being actively exploited by publicly known vulnerabilities.

The news comes just as Facebook's Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos called for an end-of-life date for Flash saying, "It is time for Adobe to announce the end-of-life date for Flash and to ask the browsers to set killbits on the same day".

Apple has long discouraged the use of Flash with Steve Jobs revealing that "We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash", in his 2010 Thoughts on Flash.

Here's what Adobe said about the latest vulnerabilities found in Flash:

Flash Player is one of the most ubiquitous and widely distributed pieces of software in the world, and as such, is a target of malicious hackers. We are actively working to improve Flash Player security, and as we did in this case, will work to quickly address issues when they are discovered. We continue to partner with browser vendors to both improve Flash Player security as well as invest in, contribute to and support more modern technologies such as HTML5 and JavaScript.

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Mozilla Blocks All Versions of Flash in Firefox

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Anonymous - July 17, 2015 at 3:15pm

If Steve Jobs was still alive today, he would be the one laughing at people who said he is wrong about taking out flash

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gamerscul9870 - July 17, 2015 at 3:19pm

He's laughing right before people's eyes.

Sona - July 15, 2015 at 1:14am

This is pretty much only solution for now. Since Hacking Team's data and exploits are hacked and shared to the public, its better off not to use any flash related work or browsing. Hopefully Abode comes up with the hotfixes fast. But afaik, its impossible to fix it unless they change the whole coding

NoGoodNick - July 14, 2015 at 11:02pm

I'm glad to see it go. There are few non-obnoxious Flash website. It's too 'cute' by half and a serious virus risk under any circumstances.

notoflash - July 14, 2015 at 10:10pm

but when Steve Jobs tried to push for no flash people just laughed....

gamerscul9870 - July 14, 2015 at 10:21pm

They had no idea, but they eventually were outsmarted.

m_thoroughbred - July 14, 2015 at 11:55pm

I agree with you completely. I remember people were outraged when Apple wouldn’t allow the iphone to run Flash and all the android phone makers jumped on the wagon to support a mobile version just to say that their phones could run Flash. Now even Google wont support it lol.

Toka2 - July 16, 2015 at 3:32am

That's because back then, pretty much every website had flash, for example, sites with videos etc. That would be like Ford saying that they're ditching petrol and diesel for hydrogen. Yes, hydrogen is eco friendly and good, but there are petrol stations everywhere.