Windows 7: IE zero-day bug leads to squabble between Microsoft, researcher

Microsoft is at odds with a researcher employed by Google who published a zero-day Internet Explorer vulnerability on New Year's Day. The vulnerability was discovered using cross_fuzz, a browser fuzzing tool created by Google researcher Michal Zalewski, who says he gave Microsoft more than six months of warning before going public with the flaw. That hasn't stopped Microsoft from sharply disagreeing, however, with the company arguing that Zalewski has now put thousands of IE users at risk.

According to Zalewski's published timeline of events, he first told Microsoft about the vulnerability in July of last year and provided the company with copies of cross_fuzz for independent verification. Zalewski informed the company that he planned to release the tool in January, and Microsoft acknowledged the report at that time—confirmed on Tuesday by Microsoft spokesperson Jerry Bryant.