Adobe Flash is reported to have another flaw invisible for almost all anti-virus

Adobe is developing a patch to its Flash media player to address a critical vulnerability exploited in targeted attacks to install malware on users’ PCs. According to a blog post written by an independent security researcher Mila Parkour the attacks are launched using emails that attach a Microsoft Word document that contains a booby-trapped Flash file.

Clicking on the document causes Windows-based machines to install a backdoor known as Zolpiq, separate researchers from antivirus provider Kaspersky said.

“Given the interest on the list in China's Anti-Monopoly Law, the current issue of the ABA Antitrust Section's Antitrust Source may be of interest,” the email, which contains no spelling mistakes or glaring grammatical errors states. Copies of the message were sent as recently as Friday to unknown people, Parkour's post indicates.

The threat has been detected only by 1 out of the 42 top antivirus products, as revealed in the VirusTotal analysis conducted over the weekend.

Adobe officials said they're unaware of any exploits that directly target the vulnerability in its Flash or Reader applications.

Adobe didn't say when the fixes would arrive for Flash, but said it won't be able to fix the vulnerability in Reader for Windows until June 14. Reader for Linux and Solaris, and for phones running Google's Android operating system aren't vulnerable.

It's not known if the attacks work against newer versions of Office, which come with security protections such as Address Space Layout Randomization designed to prevent the execution of malicious code.