Google Chrome Flash problems - Howto & fix

I've written a short but useful tutorial explaining how to restore Adobe Flash Player functionality in Google Chrome browser, including troubleshooting run once & run always prompts, privacy settings and plugin exceptions, how to selectively examine and enable/disable plugins and different versions of plugins, and more. Have fun.

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/google-chrome-flash.html


Cheers,
Mrk

 

I don't know about Windows, but here on Kubuntu the internal flash version (PPAPI) is running without any problems. And from a security point of view it's the preferable version as it's sandboxed (contrary to the external NPAPI version).

 

You can sandbox Chrome on Windows with EMET to same or even better effect. Now, true, some people might not see any issues, but those who do, they can work around it like this.
Mrk

 

There was a time when Chrome had the PPAPI Flash included in addition to the NPAPI, but at some point within the last few months they removed the NPAPI version. If I go to chrome://plugins, I only see the PPAPI version, and it's been that way in recent builds.

Or is this for people who install Flash Player from Adobe (for other browsers?) along with the built-in chrome plugin?

 

You can also sandbox Google Chrome on Windows with EMET, while using the PPAPI version. Way better, no?

 

Actually I think we're just going through another round of Version "xyz" of Flash sucks. 11.5 is acting nuts both in Chrome and Firefox, but 11.6 Beta hasn't had a single hiccup thus far. Give me two heavy Flash pages side by side, and I can make Chrome throw out sad faces and Firefox simply freeze like ice in under 10 minutes. This is with fully updated graphics drivers for a supported GPU.

 

I think you're right... I've had flash in Firefox crash on me multiple times in recent weeks, and don't remember that happening for some time before now. Chrome has been ok so far....

 

I wouldn't suggest users use NPAPI, considering it's singificantly less secure than NPAPI and you miss out on threaded GPU compositioning.

EMET also isn't a sandbox, and isn't really relevant to Flash in nearly the same way a sandbox is.

EMET's biggest features are ASLR,DEP, and ForceASLR. PPAPI Flash already uses those - so all EMET provides is EAF (easily bypassed), Heapspray (easily bypassed), and the anti-ROP mitigation techniques, which are much more difficult to bypass on 8, but the point is that it provides a lot less than a sandbox.

If users are having a Flash problem or crash the best thing you can tell them to do is go to the settings and report the bug with as much information as possible.

M00n is right, as usual, if you want the best use both. And use EMET 3.5 for those nice Anti-ROP techniques.

 

They don't have much choice but to run NPAPI if they're not using Chrome, right? Nor does it help them when 11.5 is constantly crashing browsers. I mean, yes, we can report it (if we actually know what is really going on besides "it crashed", which how many normal users do?), but have you done a lot of browsing the Adobe forums? They don't exactly have a long attention span there. I don't have a fondness of not caring at all about security, but if PPAPI 11.5 Flash crashes Chrome, and NPAPI 11.5 crashes Firefox, I'll take the less secure NPAPI 11.6 Beta that doesn't crash at all.

 

All you have to say is the site it crashed, maybe what you were doing, and that's it. You don't need to send anything else unless you feel inclined. I'd report it through Chrome - not through Adobe's forums.

If you're getting a crash, consistently on a website, then yeah you may want to switch to NPAPI. I'd just make sure the users reading the blog understand the significant implications that go alone with that

 

Flash just takes spells. It'll run fine for a good while, one update later it can't go for an hour without dying. I totally understand PPAPI being more secure and under any other circumstance I suggest it. But right now I don't suggest 11.5 period.