Adobe warns that uninstalling vulnerable QuickTime for Windows can break Creative Cloud

While the advice from the security community is that Windows users need to remove QuickTime for Windows because it contains a number of critical vulnerabilities, Adobe - no stranger to security issues itself - is now warning that uninstalling the vulnerable software could cause problems for Creative Cloud users.

"Unfortunately, there are some codecs which remain dependent on QuickTime being installed on Windows, most notably Apple ProRes. We know how common this format is in many workflows, and we continue to work hard to improve this situation, but have no estimated timeframe for native decode currently."

Removing QuickTime can break other stuff too:

"Other commonly used QuickTime formats which would be affected by the uninstallation of QuickTime include Animation (import and export), DNxHD/HR (export) as would workflows where growing QuickTime files are being used (although we strongly advise using MXF for this wherever possible)."

So, if you're a Creative Cloud users running Windows, you either have the option of removing QuickTime to keep your system safe, or leaving it on there so that you can continue to use Creative Cloud.

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Security expert Graham Cluley offers this advice:

"If your workflow depends on making videos with Creative Cloud, perhaps you would be better off using a Mac until this is sorted out."

Which is ironic given that QuickTime is an Apple product, and Apple has decided not to fix these issues.

As a Creative Cloud user on both Mac and Windows, this is a dreadful situation to be put in, and it's clear that both Adobe and Apple have seriusly dropped the ball here.

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