Troubled browser has once again come under attack , with flaw discoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityin multiple versions of Internet Explorer . Microsoft has been forced to issueVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityan emergency security patch for its Internet Explorer browser . The release came after Google security engineer Clement Lecigne uncoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya critical vulnerability in several versions of Microsoft 's browser , and could have been activated simply by directing users to a malicious website The flaw , known as CVE-2018-8653 , affectsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityInternet Explorer 9 , 10 and 11 , with the update issuedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto Windows 7 , 8.1 and 10 versions , as well as Windows Server 2008 , 2012 , 2016 and 2019 . `` A remote code execution vulnerability exists inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe way that the scripting engine handles objects in memory in Internet Explorer , '' Microsoft stated in its support document for the threat . `` The vulnerability could corrupt memory in such a way that an attacker could execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user . '' The company has issuedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya fix for the flaw now , outside of its typical Patch Tuesday security cycle , signifying it is a significant threat and should be patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityimmediately . Microsoft has gradually retired Internet Explorer from public view over the past few years as it focuses on its newer browser Edge , with only customised versions available to certain business users . The company may also be about to pull the plug on Edge as well , with report recently confirming Microsoft is set to introduce a new browser built on Google 's Chromium platform .
Microsoft issuedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitynumerous bug fixes on its most recent Patch Tuesday , but according to the security firm 0patch , there were issues with one of the flaws for a critical vulnerability . The vulnerability in questionVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, ( CVE-2018-8423 ) , is a memory corruption vulnerability that exists inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe Jet Database Engine that , when exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, allows for remote code execution . 0patch noticed that the patch Microsoft had issuedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitywas flawed as a result of studying the official patch of the Jet Database Engine and a “ micropatch ” that the security researchers had created for the same flaw . They explain this revelation as follows : As expected , the update brought a modified msrd3x40.dll binary : this is the binary with the vulnerability , which we had micropatched with 4 CPU instructions ( one of which was just for reporting purposes ) . The version of msrd3x40.dll changed from 4.0.9801.0 to 4.0.9801.5 and of course , its cryptographic hash also changed - which resulted in our micropatch for this issue no longer getting applied to msrd3x40.dll . So far so good , but the problems became glaring once further analysis began : We BinDiff-ed the patched msrd3x40.dll to its vulnerable version and reviewed the differences . At this point we will only state that we found the official fix to be slightly different to our micropatch , and unfortunately in a way that only limited the vulnerability instead of eliminating it . We promptly notified Microsoft about it and will not reveal further details or proof-of-concept until they issueVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya correct fix . It may be a little frustrating to not know what the problem is from a tech journalist ’ s perspective , but as I am also an “ ethical ” hacker , I totally understand the lack of disclosure on the part of both Microsoft and 0patch . If the flaw is not public knowledge and has not been patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability, it makes no sense to hand a cybercriminal the keys to Windows user ’ s machines . What this story shows is how vital the relationship between third-party security researchers and vendors . Without the due diligence of first Trend Micro ’ s ZDI discoveringVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe original flaw , and then 0patch uncoveringVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe secondary flaw in the patch , Microsoft and their customers would be exposed to hackers with bad intentions .