New zero-day Internet Explorer exploit uncovered

Microsoft has issued a new security advisory, warning about potential attacks against a newly uncovered vulnerability in Internet Explorer.

In a blog posting on Microsoft's Security Response Center website, Bill Sisk said that “At this time, we are aware of limited attacks attempting to use the reported vulnerability, but we will continue to track this issue.”

The attacks affect customers using Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Server 2008.

The security updates Microsoft issued Tuesday apparently do not provide protection against the vulnerability, according to JM Hipolito, Trend Micro technical communications spokesman in a blog posting on the company's web site.

According to the Trend Micro posting, “After a successful exploit, [the malware] triggers a series of redirections to multiple URLs, then finally connects to one of several different domains.”

Once a user lands on a site to which they were redirected, javascript code executes and if successful, downloads a binary that steals credentials related to online games.

The SANS Internet Storm Center (ISC) has posted additional information on the problem issue in its Daily Incident Handler's blog.