Internet Explorer security flaw affects Firefox browser
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Microsoft's release of its monthly security update on Tuesday contained fixes for three vulnerabilities affecting all versions of Internet Explorer, including one vulnerability that could be exploited on the .NET Framework to infect users of the Firefox browser.
The patch CVE-2009-2529 fixes a vulnerability in the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) component that could be exploited in a browse-and-get owned scenario by visiting a malicious website.
"While the vulnerability is in an IE component, there is an attack vector for Firefox users as well," Microsoft said on its IE Blog. "The reason is that .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installs a 'Windows Presentation Foundation' plug-in in Firefox."
That means Firefox users with .NET Framework 3.5 who visit a malicious website could have their Windows PCs hijacked using this vulnerability.
Microsoft said a workaround to mitigate the problem involves disabling the XBAP (XAML Browser Application) in the internet zone under security settings.
Firefox users can disable the Windows Presentation Foundation under Tools, Add-ons and then Plug-ins.
The security update is rated critical for all IE versions including IE 5.0, IE 6, IE 6 SP1, IE 7 and IE 8, including the version shipped with Windows 7.
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