Posted on 07 Jul 2009 by Stuart

Thousands of websites have been hit by a new exploit code that installs a cocktail of nasty malware on visitors' computers by targeting a previously unknown vulnerability in some versions of Internet Explorer.

The compromised websites link to a series of servers that exploit a zero-day vulnerability in an IE component that processes media. The vulnerability affects those using the XP and 2003 versions of Windows, Microsoft warned in this advisory.

"An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user," company security representatives wrote. "When using Internet Explorer, code execution is remote and may not require any user intervention."

Read More of this article at the renowned TheRegister website.