Starting with the upcoming releases of Firefox 3.5.3 and Firefox 3.0.14, Mozilla will warn users if their version of the popular Adobe Flash Player plug-in is out of date, according to Mozilla Human Shield Johnathan Nightingale.
Once the browser is updated, Mozilla will present the user with a visual notice on its first-run Web site that the Flash Player plugin contains security and stability vulnerabilities.
Old versions of plugins can cause crashes and other stability problems, and can also be a significant security risk. For now our focus is on the Adobe Flash Player both because of its popularity and because some studies have shown that as many as 80% of users currently have an out of date version.
Our intent is to get the user’s attention, and direct them to the Adobe web site where they can download the most up to date version.
Nightingale said Mozilla will work with other plugin vendors to provide similar checks for their products in the future.
