Adobe pushed out an update to its Reader and Acrobat packages on Monday to close a pair of critical flaws in the popular packages.

Patches to version 8.1.2 of each application resolves vulnerabilities which create a means for miscreants to drop malware onto vulnerable systems. Users of earlier versions of the software (Adobe Reader 7.1.0 and Acrobat 7.1.0) are not at risk from the bug. Version 9 of each package - due to appear next month - are also safe, Adobe reports.

The software developer credits boffins at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for discovering the flaw. Adobe's description of the bugs explains their impact but fails to reveal much about the source of the problem.

"A critical vulnerability has been identified in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 8.1.2 and earlier versions. This vulnerability would cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system," it said.

The SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center warns that the vulnerability might lend itself to botnet exploitation. It advises users to update their systems sooner rather than later. ®