Microsoft Security Patch Can Crash IE

A recently released Microsoft security patch is, perhaps, a bit too aggressive. Although it does fix several security problems in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), it can also cause the browser to crash when you visit certain Web sites. Microsoft will issue an updated version of the patch next week to address this problem.

The patch--which is addressed in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-042--was rated critical and automatically delivered to tens of millions of people around the world via Automatic Updates. It affects IE 6 Service Pack 1 (SP1) on Windows XP and Windows 2000.

A flaw in the patch causes IE to crash when users browse Web sites that use HTTP 1.1 compression technologies. This is the second time this year that an IE patch has had to be re-released: In April, an IE patch caused problems for users with certain HP scanners and NVIDIA video cards.

Microsoft says it will release a new version of the patch on August 22, but because the patch fixes eight security flaws in the browser, it still recommends that users install the original version of the patch in the meantime. Microsoft notes that users can bypass the patch problem by disabling HTTP 1.1 support under the Advanced tab of IE's Internet Options dialog box.