Microsoft denies reports of first IE7 security flaw

Microsoft has dismissed reports of a security vulnerability in its Internet Explorer 7 browser as "inaccurate".

Danish security firm Secunia on Thursday claimed that it had discovered a vulnerability in the new version of the Microsoft browser. The firm rated the flaw as "less critical".

An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by luring a user to a specially crafted website. Once that site is accessed, the attacker gains access to any information from other websites that the user is visiting at the same time, including online banking and email services, according to Secunia.

Microsoft did not challenge the fact that the flaw could lead to information disclosure, but denied that it affected the Internet Explorer 7 browser that was released on Wednesday.

"These reports are technically inaccurate, the issue concerned in these reports is not in Internet Explorer 7 (or any other version) at all," Christopher Budd, a security program manager with Microsoft, argued in a posting to the Microsoft Security Response Center Blog.

"Rather, it is in a different Windows component, specifically a component in Outlook Express. While these reports use Internet Explorer as a vector the vulnerability itself is in Outlook Express."

He added that Microsoft isn't aware of any attacks exploiting the Outlook flaw and that the company plans to keep monitoring the situation.