Microsoft Corp. was working Friday to come up with a fix for a flaw in its Internet Explorer browser that could let hackers gain remote access to computer systems through malicious Web sites.
A patch was not immediately available, though some security experts played down the risk.
"If the user doesn't browse a malicious Web site, then the user isn't even under attack," said Gerhard Eschelbeck, chief technology officer at Qualys Inc., a security company based in Redwood Shores, Calif.
The vulnerability is a problem in the way Internet Explorer handles certain pieces of data that are optional components in various programs.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker said it knew of no customers who had been attacked.
The company issued a security advisory Thursday urging Internet users to be careful about opening up Web links in e-mails and said it would release a security update once it had completed its investigation.
The advisory came after a team of French security experts published a "proof-of-concept exploit" showing how hackers could take advantage of the vulnerability.
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