Hmm, that's no good. Sounds like something is wrong with the auto-updater service.
The easiest solution is probably just to do a complete uninstall and reinstall.
Uninstall Flash Player | Mac OS
Uninstall Flash Player | Windows
I don't know what operating system you're on, so I can't give you more specific advice, but let's start there.
As an aside, depending on the browser, you may have to exit the browser before the new version of Flash gets loaded. If you're one of the people who hasn't rebooted or closed your browser since 2011, that could be part of the problem.