Microsoft stands by IE security patch

By Alun Williams

Posted on 9 Sep 2003 at 12:58

Microsoft has responded to claims that a recent patch for Internet Explorer fails to fix the security vulnerability.

The flaw involves Internet Explorer's cross-domain security model. By the means of specially crafted HTML, an attacker could run programs on your computer when IE is used to view the attacker's website. Yesterday, security specialists were reporting that the patch still leaves users vulnerable

Microsoft, however, is standing by the update and urges all users to apply the original cumulative patch. In an official statement, the company says: 'Microsoft has not been made aware of any customer impact at this time but we are committed to keeping customers' information safe and are aggressively investigating these reports.'

The line from Redmond seems to be that any remaining vulnerabilities are actually new variations on the original problem. It says it is 'is now investigating public reports of new variations on one of the vulnerabilities which was originally addressed in MS03-032'.

The official statement concludes: 'Upon completion of our investigation we will take appropriate action to protect our customers.'

You can find the relevant bulletin and patch - MS03-032 - on the Microsoft website. It was originally issued 20 August.