The Internet Explorer 8 version that ships as the default browser of Windows 7 is affected by three Critical vulnerabilities, Microsoft warned. The Critical security holes could potentially allow an attacker to take over vulnerable computers by tricking victims into visiting a malformed webpage. However, not just users that are running IE8 on top of Windows 7 are at risk of remote code execution, but also those using IE5, 6, and 7. Still, a patch package has already been released through Windows Update and Microsoft Update. Users with Automatic Updates turned on will have the updates delivered to their computers automatically.

“This update addresses three privately reported vulnerabilities and one publicly disclosed vulnerability. The security update addresses these vulnerabilities by modifying the way that Internet Explorer processes data stream headers, validates arguments, and handles objects in memory,” revealed Terry McCoy, program manager, Internet Explorer Security. “This security update is rated Critical for all supported releases of Internet Explorer: Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, Internet Explorer 7, and Internet Explorer 8.”

IE8 on the latest iteration of the Windows client in particular is affected by a vulnerability in HTML Component Handling, and two Uninitialized Memory Corruption holes. The links included at the bottom of this article will provide you with the downloadable updates for Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7, for those of you looking for an alternative source to WU.

“IE security updates are cumulative and contain all previously released updates for each version of Internet Explorer,” McCoy added. “I encourage everybody to download this security update and other non-IE security updates via Windows Update or Microsoft Update. Windows users are also strongly encouraged to configure their systems for automatic updates to keep their systems current with the latest updates from Microsoft.”

- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7 (KB974455)
- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7 x64 Edition (KB974455)
- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 for Windows 7 IDX (KB974455)
- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7 Release Candidate for x64-based Systems (KB974455)
- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7 IDX for x64-based Systems (KB974455)
- Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7 Release Candidate (KB974455)