Netscape fixes browser flaws

Netscape released on Monday an updated version of its Netscape 8 browser to fix a pair of "critical" security flaws.

Netscape 8.0.3.1 takes care of two flaws that were previously disclosed and fixed in Firefox, the open-source Web browser on which Netscape 8 is based, Netscape spokesman Andrew Weinstein said.

The updated release fixes only the most serious flaws that were fixed in Firefox 1.0.5. Ten less-serious flaws will be dealt with in another update due in the coming weeks, Weinstein said. "We wanted to make sure that we tackled the larger issues immediately," he said.

The French Security Incident Response Team rates the issues "critical," which means the flaws could be exploited remotely and allow an attacker to hijack a victim's PC.

The Netscape update also fixes two other bugs, including one that could cause the browser to crash when downloading especially large images, Weinstein said. Additionally, the update deals with some performance issues, he said.

The revamp released Monday is the third since Netscape 8 launched in May. A day after launching the Web browser and touting its security features, Netscape, a division of Time Warner's America Online subsidiary, had to issue a new version to fix several serious security flaws. Last month Netscape released an update to fix a bug that broke XML rendering in Microsoft's Internet Explorer.