Microsoft Fixes Explorer Flaw

Microsoft Corp. has posted a single patch, or program repair kit, to fix all three security bugs found over the last week in its Internet Explorer Web browser.

Without the patch, an unscrupulous Web site operator could take advantage of the flaws to wreak havoc in someone else’s computer, send instructions to run programs secretly, send electronic mail under the other operator’s name, or damage software stored on a hard drive.

The patch was posted late Saturday at the Microsoft official Web site and can be downloaded for free. The flaw affects Internet Explorer versions 3.0 and 3.01 for the Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 operating systems.

Internet Explorer claims about 25% to 30% of the market for programs to browse the World Wide Web on the Internet.

The first flaw was found more than a week ago by a student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass. A second one was discovered Thursday by a student at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md.

The third problem was reported Friday by students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Microsoft’s repair efforts should avert any significant damage to the company’s effort to catch up with Netscape, the leading Web browser, said Dan Kusnetzky, director of the client server environments program at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass.