[ news_security_news ]
Microsoft Patch For IE Causes Crashes
Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
2006-08-16
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Microsoft may have created a cure that's worse than the disease. A security update for Internet Explorer is said to make the browser crash under certain conditions.
Whoops. The patch was rated "critical," and was released on August 8.
Of course, Microsoft would prefer not to use the term "crash." The company said that its browser "unexpectedly exits" at times.
This will occur "when you view a Web site that uses the HTTP 1.1 protocol and compression."
It's only fair to note that "customers who are using any version of Internet Explorer other than Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 together with any Windows version are not affected . . . and do not have to take any action."
A fix is in the works, but don't expect to see it until August 22.
In the meantime, "customers who want to avoid the issue before the new security update is available may apply hotfix 923762."
That won't be as easy as it might sound, though - users must "contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix."
A CNET article noted that this is not the first time a patch from Microsoft has caused problems.
"In April, it released a second version of a Windows Explorer update because the original interfered with Hewlett-Packard software and Nvidia drivers," wrote Joris Evers. "In June, it had to fix a patch that caused network connection trouble for some people."
Microsoft's empire didn't come crashing down on those occasions, and it probably won't fall because of this latest goof.
The incident is decidedly embarrassing for the company, though, and frustrating for users.
Tag: Internet Explorer update
Add to  Del.icio.us |  Digg |  Yahoo! My Web |  Furl
Get all the updates in RSS: 
About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for SecurityProNews, InternetFinancialNews, SearchNewz, and WebProNews.
More news_security_news Articles
Insider Reports RSS Feed
|
|
iEntry 10th Anniversary
RSS
Archive
