robyholmes Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 Hi All, I've got a odd issue with both Edge & Chrome not able to run flash. I get the 'Allow flash' option which is selected its what happens after that. Edge just loads nothing, so if the page is a full flash page you don't see anything but a background colour. Chrome shows the 'Right click to run Adobe Flash Player' but when you right click and press 'Run this plug-in' it doesn't do anything. I think it might be linked with AppLocker but the AppLocker event viewer shows nothing being blocked. We've enabled the DLL rules as set out in NCSC document here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/end-user-device-security/platform-specific-guidance/eud-security-guidance-windows-10-1809 over summer and that seems to have been when it started but I can't pin down exactly which rule is affecting it. Nor can I find where the flash plugin lives in Chrome or Edge to make sure its not covered by the block rule. Thanks, Rob
robyholmes Posted September 9, 2019 Author Posted September 9, 2019 I think its linked with the 1809 update as its been reported to have worked on machines which have not updated to 1809 yet. However my machine which doesn't currently have AppLocker applied to it is also working so its a combination of both which seems to be causing it.
robyholmes Posted September 9, 2019 Author Posted September 9, 2019 Machines running 1903 also have the issue but interestingly Adobe Flash security update is failing to install along with a number of other updates.
chazzy2501 Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 Won't it be removed from Windows in 2020 anyway? Get used to it being gone. Hurrah..
robyholmes Posted September 9, 2019 Author Posted September 9, 2019 Won't it be removed from Windows in 2020 anyway? Get used to it being gone. Hurrah.. I'd love to but our staff need access to a site which uses it so I need to find a solution. Google Chrome is a App-V package so I've re-packaged it and made sure to load a Adobe Flash page before capturing the package. I'm hoping this will 'pre-load' Flash and solve the issue with Chrome. Edge however I'm not sure on. Currently the laptop I'm testing with isn't installing all windows updates, including a Adobe Flash one so I'm trying to solve that.
DGardiner Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 Google Chrome is a App-V package so I've re-packaged it and made sure to load a Adobe Flash page before capturing the package. I'm hoping this will 'pre-load' Flash and solve the issue with Chrome. Edge however I'm not sure on. Currently the laptop I'm testing with isn't installing all windows updates, including a Adobe Flash one so I'm trying to solve that. im fairly sure it wont, its a user setting. you need to load the chrome gpos and enable the settings required there. https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/187202?hl=en heres the flash info https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7084871?hl=en
robyholmes Posted September 9, 2019 Author Posted September 9, 2019 im fairly sure it wont, its a user setting. you need to load the chrome gpos and enable the settings required there. https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/187202?hl=en heres the flash info https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7084871?hl=en The plugin 'Flash' is allowed to run, in fact the users is even asked about it. It just doesn't. I've got all the group policy settings setup as our 1803 machines seem to be working fine. Its just our 1809 and 1903 machines which can't load Flash. I'm really trying anything now as I can't find anything to point to the cause.
DGardiner Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 The plugin 'Flash' is allowed to run, in fact the users is even asked about it. It just doesn't. I've got all the group policy settings setup as our 1803 machines seem to be working fine. Its just our 1809 and 1903 machines which can't load Flash. I'm really trying anything now as I can't find anything to point to the cause. ive always found "ask" to never work, always needs changed to allow
robyholmes Posted September 9, 2019 Author Posted September 9, 2019 This is what I get in Chrome (Even my new package) All the settings I can find are set to run, the website is in the allowed list. When you right click on select 'Run this plug-in' it just does nothing.
DGardiner Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 This is what I get in Chrome (Even my new package) [ATTACH=CONFIG]54903[/ATTACH] All the settings I can find are set to run, the website is in the allowed list. When you right click on select 'Run this plug-in' it just does nothing. have you tried inspecting the page - its likely the flash file is being pulled from an offsite cdn? so the allowed rules wouldnt apply?
robyholmes Posted September 9, 2019 Author Posted September 9, 2019 have you tried inspecting the page - its likely the flash file is being pulled from an offsite cdn? so the allowed rules wouldnt apply? No, no errors showing in console or network. The account I'm logged on with is an admin so it shouldn't block very much anyway. I think my next step is to change AppLocker in to audit mode and see if it works then. This is what I know so far: Windows 10 1803 Machines with AppLocker - Working in both Windows 10 1903 Tech PC without AppLocker and Chrome installed locally - Working in both Windows 10 1809 Machines with AppLocker - Not working in either Windows 10 1903 Machines with AppLocker - Not working in either Our 1809 and 1903 machines have been upgraded from 1803 so I'm preparing a MDT image with 1903 to try a fresh install as well.
robyholmes Posted September 9, 2019 Author Posted September 9, 2019 Break through. I've put our AppLocker DLL rules in to Audit mode. GPupdated the machines and restarted and sure enough it worked straightaway in both Edge and Chrome. The only problem now is AppLocker event viewer isn't showing anything blocked (As before) so its a guessing game which DLL it doesn't like.
DGardiner Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 Break through. I've put our AppLocker DLL rules in to Audit mode. GPupdated the machines and restarted and sure enough it worked straightaway in both Edge and Chrome. The only problem now is AppLocker event viewer isn't showing anything blocked (As before) so its a guessing game which DLL it doesn't like. pepflashplayer.dll ? assuming its not loading flash?
Arthur Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 Do your AppLocker rules allow the Flash Player DLLs in C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash and C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash to run?
robyholmes Posted September 9, 2019 Author Posted September 9, 2019 pepflashplayer.dll ? assuming its not loading flash? FlashUtil_ActiveX.dll in Windows\System32\Macromed\ Looking at my other rules it should have been covered from what I can see so really not sure why it wasn't. Anyway rule now in place and seems to be working. Odd that it affected Chrome though as well as I thought its Flash was self contained. That's how it updated it. Unless on Windows 10 they use the built in one.
Arthur Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 Odd that it affected Chrome though as well as I thought its Flash was self contained. That's how it updated it. It might be worth deploying Adobe's PPAPI Flash Player plugin. That's what I had to do to get it working on our school PCs.
free780 Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 I just point people to use IE for sites that require flash player. I state that Flash will EOL in 2020.
Ditto Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 I just point people to use IE for sites that require flash player. I state that Flash will EOL in 2020. What will happen in practice? Will it just not run, or will it run at your own risk? XP is long EOL, but in spite of the risk, some instances are still running?
free780 Posted September 10, 2019 Posted September 10, 2019 I don't know. There is a GPO setting for IE and Edge that disables flash. MS could just set that as enforced. They usually make allowances for those in enterprise who need to run legacy plugins. They might do a whitelist for IE only flash player.
Arthur Posted September 10, 2019 Posted September 10, 2019 What will happen in practice? Will it just not run, or will it run at your own risk? XP is long EOL, but in spite of the risk, some instances are still running? Flash won't run at all since Microsoft are completely removing the plugin from Edge and IE. They blogged about their plans just over a week ago. https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2019/08/30/update-removing-flash-microsoft-edge-internet-explorer/ I will be glad to see the back of it. [emoji2] 3
robyholmes Posted September 10, 2019 Author Posted September 10, 2019 I look forward to it as well. I think this has got more complex for me as some of our IWB computers have ActivInspire installed which comes with its own Flash Plugin. I've got Edge working on these machines but Chrome still doesn't. I'm going to try remove the extra plugin which installs with Inspire and see what breaks. Might as well find out now then our staff can plan for it (Well, plan how to complain they need it after 2020..)
free780 Posted September 10, 2019 Posted September 10, 2019 BTL SecureAssess exam clients will need updating. But I haven't seen much evidence of this yet.
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