A potential vulnerability has been identified in Adobe Flash Player 10.0.12.36 and earlier that could allow an attacker who successfully exploits this potential vulnerability to take control of the affected system, Adobe said on Thusday.

A malicious SWF must be loaded in Flash Player by the user for an attacker to exploit this potential vulnerability. Adobe recommends users update to the most current version of Flash Player available for their platform. This can be done by downloading it from the Player Download Center, or by using the auto-update mechanism within the product when prompted.

According to the company, the affected software versions are Adobe Flash Player 10.0.12.36 and earlier (Adobe Flash Player 10.0.15.3 and earlier for Linux)

For users who cannot update to Flash Player 10, Adobe has developed a patched version of Flash Player 9, Flash Player 9.0.159.0, which can be downloaded from the following link.