Security Update, March 29, 2001
Published: March 29, 2001
Read This First
This update resolves a security vulnerability in Internet Explorer, and is discussed in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS01-020. Download now to help prevent a malicious user from running an executable e-mail attachment on your computer.
This vulnerability exists because Internet Explorer does not handle MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) headers in HTML e-mails correctly. If a malicious user sends an affected HTML e-mail or hosts an affected e-mail on a Web site, and a user opens the e-mail or visits the Web site, Internet Explorer automatically runs the excecutable on the user's computer. If this occurs, the executable can take any action on the computer that the user can take, including adding, changing, or deleting data, communicating with Web sites, or reformatting the hard drive. This update eliminates the vulnerability by correcting the way Internet Explorer handles MIME headers in HTML e-mails, preventing e-mails from automatically launching executable attachments.
For more information about this vulnerability, read Microsoft Security Bulletin MS01-020.
System Requirements
| • | Internet Explorer 5.01 Service Pack 1 |
| • | Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 1 |
Note: This update is included in Internet Explorer 5.01 Service Pack 2.
How to download and install
Select your language and browser version from the table below.
How to use
Restart your computer to complete the installation.
How to uninstall
Uninstall is not available.