Do you use the Firefox web browser? You need to update it, now.
The United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued an advisory urging users and administrators to upgrade their versions of Firefox (the latest version at the time of writing is 72.0.1).
The reason? Mozilla, the makers of Firefox, has identified (and, in version 72.0.1, patched) a zero-day vulnerability in Firefox that could allow an attacker to take control of users’ computers.
According to Mozilla the vulnerability was detected in exploits seen in-the-wild.
So, don’t dilly-dally and update your version of Firefox to make sure that you are protected.
The easiest way to check the version of Firefox running on your computer is to choose the About option through the menu.
On Windows you do that via Help > About Firefox. On Macs, you choose Firefox > About Firefox.
If you’re not running the latest version of Firefox, you should be offered a button to update your installation.
Click it.
Be safe out there.
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Does this article apply to all operating systems? I am running Firefox 70.0.1 on Fedora. I have the "automatic update" box selected in preferences. The about banner does not offer the option "restart to update". I have restarted Firefox and still have the same version.
When you write articles with such sensational headlines would it possible to be a bit more specific about the target audience you are addressing? I realise you have only mentioned Windows & Mac.
I believe you can grab Firefox 72.0.1 here if other methods of updating aren't working for you:
https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/72.0.1/source/firefox-72.0.1.source.tar.xz
The vast majority of readers of this site are Windows and Mac users, so I tend to focus on advice for them.