Firefox Flash Player Plug-in turns on microphone

[HelenWheels]

A few days ago I noticed that when I played videos online, there was an odd echo, and at times, when I turned the audio up, I'd get feedback through the speakers. I determined that the microphone had somehow got turned on, and was playing through the speakers. After doing some troubleshooting (which included comparing processes running during normal operation and during the malfunction) I've come to the conclusion that it's the Flash Player Plug-in that's causing this to happen because the problem goes away if I go into the Task Manager and shut down the "Process Tree" related to the Flash Player Plug-in.

I can tell when the mic's on by tapping next to it and seeing if the sound comes out the speakers. The odd thing is that this also happens when the computer first boots up, before a user is chosen. 

Is this a common problem? Do I need to worry about my video camera being on too? I don't THINK I've done anything to warrant the NSA's attention but...

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1, Firefox version 23.0.2, and Shockwave Flash 11.7.700.224 and would appreciate any help I could get.  Thanks for your time!

-HW

[DaveLembke]

While a mic being enabled like this does raise suspicion, I would try the following. Uninstall Firefox completely. Reboot computer, and reinstall Firefox. Be sure the plugin you are getting is from Adobe and everything should be good. I am not aware of any poisoned versions of Flash Plug ins that have wrongful intent embedded in them to listen in on you. To me it sounds like some really odd corruption, which may be resolved by a reinstall of the browser clean and flash plugin. I would also make sure you have the latest audio drivers as for it may be a bug that has a fix.

And I would also make sure that antivirus is up to date and run a full scan just to be sure its not some sort of a hijacker. I am unaware of amny malware that enables microphones. There have been hackers out there enabling webcams, cameras embedded or attached to computers to snoop etc, but I havent heard anything about a MIC hack yet.

BTW if this reinstall doesnt fix the problem and system comes up clean of any problems, what is the hardware info for this computer to look at chipsets and drivers. If its a store bought computer please specify make/model, and if its a home made build please include all specs.