Fergie's Tech Blog

Chinese Security Researchers Mistakenly Released Unpatched IE7 Exploit

Jeremy Kirk writes on ComputerWorld:

Chinese security researchers mistakenly released the code needed to hack a PC by exploiting an unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) browser, potentially putting millions of computer users at risk -- but it appears some hackers already knew how to exploit the flaw.

At one point, the code was traded for as much as $15,000 on underground criminal markets, according to iDefense, the computer security branch of VeriSign Inc., citing a blog post from the Chinese team.

The problem in IE7 means a computer could be infected with malicious software merely by visiting a Web site, one of the most dangerous computer security scenarios. It affects computers running IE7 on Windows XP, regardless of the service pack version.

Microsoft has acknowledged the issue but has not indicated when it will release a patch.

posted by Fergie @ 12/11/2008 04:06:00 PM