IE 9.0.3 for Windows 7 SP1, RTM and Vista SP2 Available

Internet Explorer 9 has been pushed up to version 9.0.3 by the latest series of IE updates Microsoft released earlier this week.

Users running Windows 7 SP1 / RTM or Windows Vista SP2 that apply the October 2011 Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer will find that IE9, which should have been up to v9.0.2 ahead of this month’s Patch Tuesday, will get a small versioning increment.

All the patches associated with Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-081 for the supported versions of IE are currently served automatically to customers worldwide via Windows Update.

“This security update resolves eight privately reported vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The most severe vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer,” revealed Tyson Storey, program manager, Internet Explorer.

“An attacker who successfully exploited any of these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less affected than users who operate with administrative user rights.

As I already noted, the October 2011 patches for Internet Explorer 9 are designed to resolve no less than five security vulnerabilities, all considered high-risk by the software giant.

In fact, the Redmond company advices customers to prioritize the deployment of IE patches this month in order to fend off any potential attacks and exploits.

“Most customers have enabled automatic updating and do not need to take any action. We recommend that customers, who have not enabled automatic updating, enable it (Start Menu, type “Windows Update”),” Storey added.

“We recommend that administrators, enterprise installations, and end users who want to install this security update manually, apply the update immediately using update management software or by checking for updates using the Microsoft Update service.”

Windows Internet Explorer 9 RTW for Windows 7 and Windows 7 SP1 is available for download here.

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 9 in Windows 7 (KB2586448)

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 9 in Windows Vista (KB2586448)

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 9 in Windows Server 2008 (KB2586448)

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 9 in Windows Vista x64 Edition (KB2586448)

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 9 in Windows 7 x64 Edition (KB2586448)

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 9 in Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB2586448)

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 9 in Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Edition (KB2586448)