Another Internet Explorer 5.0 Security hole found! (8/25/99)

Question

Another Internet Explorer 5.0 Security hole found!

Answer

This question was answered on August 25, 1999. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

Microsoft has confirmed a new security hole in Microsoft's Internet Explorer 5.0 could allow random programs to execute on a user's computer and could also expose those machines to malicious hackers.

The security hole is in the 5.0 version of the Web browser (Internet Explorer) on Windows 95/98 and allows the execution of arbitrary programs on computers when users visit Web pages or receive Outlook email that take advantage of this "hole". It does so by creating, overwriting, and putting content on the users local hard drive.

Microsoft has not received any reports of customers being affected by the security hole and plans to have a patch posted to its Windows Update (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com) site within the week.

For now, Microsoft suggest disabling the ActiveX controls and plug-ins. To do this, click on Tools, then Internet Options, then on the Security tab at the top. Next, click on the Custom Level... button and click on the disable option for all Active X questions. This will possibly disable some functionality at certain web sites but is the only protection against this threat at this point. As soon as an update is available from Microsoft, we will send out another message with the details on how to patch this problem.

Author

Posted by Ken of Data Doctors on August 25, 1999