Critical Out Of Band Hotfix Released

Typically hotfixes are released on the second Tuesday of each month as you are all well aware.  Occasionally, I can personally only remember four including this one and the one this past October, there are out of band hotfixes released.  While we don’t normally post hotfix release notifications considering this is an out of band release I wanted to let you all know about it.

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-078 – Critical

Security Update for Internet Explorer (960714)

https://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS08-078.mspx

Executive Summary

This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

This security update is rated Critical for Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, and Internet Explorer 7. For information about Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, please see the section, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Related to This Security Update. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

The security update addresses the vulnerability by modifying the way Internet Explorer validates data binding parameters and handles the error resulting in the exploitable condition. For more information about the vulnerability, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) subsection under the next section, Vulnerability Information.

This security update also addresses the vulnerability first described in Microsoft Security Advisory 961051.

Recommendation:

Microsoft recommends that customers apply the update immediately.

Known Issues:

None.  If you experience any issues please call 1-866-PCSAFETY.  There is no charge for this call.

Update Availability

The update has been pushed to all Windows Update servers and will appear on your WSUS server(s) as soon as you synchronize them.  You can also download the patch for your operating system at the link posted above.

For more information please tune into the following webcast!

Title: Information About Microsoft December Out-of-Band Security Bulletin
Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 1:00 P.M. Pacific Time (U.S. & Canada)
URL: https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032399448&Culture=en-US 

Title: Information About Microsoft December Out-of-Band Security Bulletin #2
Date: Thursday, December 18, 2008 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time (U.S. & Canada)
URL: https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032399449&Culture=en-US