Adobe will soon release a fix for a critical bug in its Reader software that, if exploited, could allow outside control of a computer running the software. The bug was revealed at the Black Hat conference.

A description of the bug in the National Vulnerability Databsee says that the bug, related to Adobe's font handling capabilities, could allow hackers to use a TrueType

font to execute arbitrary code.

Charlie Miller, working with Independent Security Evaluators as principal analyst, presented information at Black Hat as part of a talk about a tool that could prevent software crashes by finding underlying problems.

Miller said about Adobe's rapid response to the vulnerability, "I'm kind of surprised how fast they're fixing it."

The soonest anticipated security update from Adobe will come before the quarterly security releases expected on October 12. It will address a number of issues for Adobe in Windows, Mac, and Unix.