Adobe Systems has released a fix for critical security vulnerabilities in its Reader and Acrobat software that could allow someone to remotely take control of a computer. On Tuesday, TechRepublic security columnist John McCormick highlighted the threat writing, “A recent conference of the Chaos Computer Club hacker group in Germany included a discussion of an Adobe Acrobat Reader flaw that affects both Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers. While initially thought to only cause exposure to random code on Web sites, the vulnerability can also expose the contents of a user’s local hard drive to hackers.”

According to an Adobe security bulletin released Wednesday, the critical flaw affects:

  • Adobe Reader 7.0.8 and earlier versions
  • Adobe Acrobat Standard, Professional, and Elements 7.0.8, and earlier versions
  • Adobe Acrobat 3D

Adobe strongly recommends users update to the latest versions of Reader, Acrobat, and Acrobat 3D.