Posted on 09/21/2006 2:24:46 PM PDT by Panerai
Miscreants are using an unpatched security bug in Internet Explorer to install malicious software from rigged Web sites, experts warned Tuesday.
The vulnerability lies in the way IE 6 handles certain graphics. Malicious software can be loaded, unbeknownst to the user, onto a vulnerable Windows PC when the user clicks on a malicious link on a Web site or an e-mail message, several security companies said.
"Fully patched Internet Explorer browsers are vulnerable," Ken Dunham, director of the rapid response team at VeriSign's iDefense, said in an e-mailed statement. "This new zero-day attack is trivial to reproduce and has great potential for widespread Web-based attacks in the near future."
Security-monitoring companies Secunia and the French Security Incident Response Team have given the issue their most serious ratings.
Shady adult Web sites are among the first to exploit the IE vulnerability, Eric Sites, vice president of research and development at spyware specialist Sunbelt Software, wrote on a corporate blog. In one case, a malicious Web site used the exploit to install "epic loads of adware," according to Sunbelt.
Microsoft plans to fix the flaw as part of its monthly patching cycle on Oct. 10, the software giant said in a security advisory. The update might be released sooner, "depending on customer needs," Microsoft said. Typically, Microsoft only breaks its patch cycle when attacks are widespread.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
This has to be a joke! Surely they've squashed all such bugs by now.
/s
Makes me glad I do not use IE. I worry that the browser I use (firefox) has a equivalent flaw.
What, exactly, do they mean by "epic loads"???
So just stay off the porn sites, especially at work and there are no problems.
This seems to be more a problem for those that can't get any at DU or those on welfare who got too much too often at our expense. :-)
You have to visit the porno sites to get the explanation.
I think I shall pass...
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