Microsoft begins distributing Internet Explorer 9.01 update with critical security fixes

June 14 was Patch Tuesday. And this time around, there were lots of Internet Explorer (IE) security vulnerabilities that were patched.

Microsoft is addressing many of these security issues in one fell swoop, with the newly released IE 9.01, its June Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer. This update is available, as of yesterday, via Windows Update, according to a new post on the IE blog.

The security fixes in this update address vulnerabilities that "could allow remote code execution if a user visits a malicious, specially crafted Web page using IE," the IE team said. This update is rated "Critical" for IE 6, 7, 8, and 9 on Windows clients, the Softies said. There are also a few non-security related fixes in the Cumulative Update that address issues like memory leaks and display issues.

Customers who have automatic updating turned on don't need to take any action; the June Cumulative update will be applied without their intervention. "We recommend that administrators, enterprise installations, and end users who want to install this security update manually, apply the update immediately using update management software or by checking for updates using the Microsoft Update service," Microsoft officials said.

Microsoft is in the midst of developing IE 10, the next version of its browser, and the one that is expected to be integrated into Windows 8. Microsoft delivered a first technology preview of IE 10 in April 2011. Officials said to expect regular test builds of IE 10 every three months or so, which means the next IE 10 test release should arrive by mid-July, if not before.