14 DAY TRIAL // On February 14th, Microsoft released a new set of security patches for some of its products, including a Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer.
The update is now available for download via Windows Update, meant to resolve no less than 5 privately reported vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer.
As part of this monthly update, users will be downloading Internet Explorer (IE) 9.0.5 on their Windows 7 computers, Microsoft explains.
21 vulnerabilities were addressed in the latest security update released for Windows, Office, IE, NET and Silverlight, but only five of them involved Internet Explorer, Microsoft explains.
“The most severe vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user visits a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer,” Ceri Gallacher, program manager, Internet Explorer, notes in a recent blog post.
“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.”
Ceri Gallacher also notes that the new security update is deemed critical for Internet Explorer Windows Clients, except for IE6 client, where it is rated moderate. Moreover, it is rated moderate for Internet Explorer on Windows servers, but not for IE6, where it is not rated.
The new update will arrive on all Windows machines that have the Automatic update feature enabled. Users who disabled it should perform manual updates.
“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”),” Gallacher continues.
“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.”
Internet Explorer 9 is listed on Softpedia on this page.