Microsoft released a fix for a serious security bug in Internet Explorer on Tuesday (11 April). The fix for the "CreateTextRange" vulnerability - which has become the subject of hacker exploits over recent days - was released as a cumulative update to Internet Explorer along with four other security bulletins, two of which also earn the dreaded critical ranking.

The other two critical patches affect Windows components, dealing specifically with a Vulnerability in the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) that creates a possible means to inject hostile code onto vulnerable systems and a Windows Explorer security bug that likewise creates a possible means for hacker attack.

Less serious flaws are covered in a cumulative update for Outlook Express and a vulnerability in Microsoft Front Page Server Extensions. In all, Microsoft's latest Patch Tuesday update covers 15 vulnerabilities: 10 affecting Internet Explorer, two vulns in Microsoft Windows Explorer and one vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook Express, MDAC and Microsoft FrontPage. US CERT has published a useful summary here. Microsoft's bulletin summary can be found here. ®