flash overloads cpu, kills performance

[A]

Description: Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS
Release: 16.04

# apt-cache policy flashplugin-installer
flashplugin-installer:
  Installed: 32.0.0.192ubuntu0.16.04.1
  Candidate: 32.0.0.192ubuntu0.16.04.1
  Version table:
 *** 32.0.0.192ubuntu0.16.04.1 500
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/multiverse amd64 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/multiverse amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     11.2.202.616ubuntu1 500
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/multiverse amd64 Packages

System freezes for ten seconds and/or much longer.
I would say "See attached screenshot"... but that doesn't appear to be an option here.

Note CPU usage by plugin.
Also please note virtual memory usage by firefox, I don't know if it's relevant. I have 8GB RAM. I frequently have a dozen windows and 50+ tabs open. Some windows have many more tabs than others.

I have to wonder if this isn't a kernel bug? Or a top bug? How can a system use more than 100% of the CPU? Is it trying to somehow express the fact that I have 8 cores and 117% means something?

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1831203/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Seth Arnold (seth-arnold)]

Yes, 100% means an entire core is being used; 117% means the process is multi-threaded and threads are executing on several cores at once, thus the total is above 100%.

As for flash's poor performance, that'd be on Adobe to sort out -- given they are only doing security fixes for flash, for only a few months at that, I suspect they won't try to fix performance problems.

Thanks