Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a security vulnerability in the Microsoft® virtual machine (Microsoft VM). The vulnerability could enable a malicious web site operatorto read files from the computer of a person who visited his site or read web content from inside an intranet if the malicious site is visited by a computer from within that intranet. In both cases the malicious applet would have toknow the exact name and location of the files. The Microsoft VM is a virtual machine for the Win32® operating environment. It runs atop Microsoft Windows® 95, 98 or Windows NT®. It ships as part of each operating system,and also as part of Microsoft Internet Explorer. The version of the Microsoft VM that ships with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x and Internet Explorer 5.x contains a securityvulnerability that could allow a Java applet to operate outside the bounds set by the sandbox. A malicious user could write a Java applet that could read - but not change, delete or add - files from the computer of a person who visited his site or read web content from inside an intranet if the malicious site is visited by a computer from within thatintranet. The malicious user would need to know the exactly path and filename of the files he wished to read.