Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)

General Information

Technologies must be operated and maintained in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. More information on the proper use of the TRM can be found on the TRM Proper Use Tab/Section.

Website:	Go to site
Description:	Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) is a graphical web browser developed by Microsoft and an integrated component of Windows operating systems. On August 17, 2000, Microsoft published a timeline indicating that Microsoft Teams will stop supporting Internet Explorer 11 on November 30, 2020 whereas Microsoft 365 products will end Internet Explorer 11 support on August 17, 2021. IE 11 remains supported for other uses. Note: Microsoft is phasing out IE in favor of Edge and no new enhancements are planned for IE as of this writing. Users are strongly encouraged to migrate their use of IE to other approved VA browser solutions that have planned enhancements.
Technology/Standard Usage Requirements:	Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.
Section 508 Information:	This product is accessible. It is 508-compliant and needs no further assessment before use in VA. For additional information or assistance regarding Section 508, please contact the Section 508 Office at Section508@va.gov. Please see reference tab for more information concerning product versions.
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v23.7
Decision Date:	07/10/2023 at 16:17:31 UTC
Aliases:	IE, MSIE
Introduced By:	Enterprise Program Management Office (EPMO) TRM Team
Vendor Name:	Microsoft

Vendor Release Information

The Vendor Release table provides the known releases for the TRM Technology, obtained from the vendor (or from the release source).

Version	Release Date	Vendor End of Life Date	Vendor Desupport Date
6.0	08/30/2002	10/01/2006	04/08/2014
7.0 (All)	10/01/2006	10/02/2011	04/08/2014
8.0 (Clients)	03/19/2009		01/12/2016
8.0 (Servers)	03/19/2009		01/12/2016
9.0 (Clients)	03/14/2011		01/12/2016
9.0 (Servers)	03/14/2011		01/12/2016
10.0 (Clients)	08/01/2012		01/12/2016
10.0 (Servers)	08/01/2012
11.0.x (Clients)	10/17/2013
11.0.x (Servers)	10/17/2013	06/15/2022

Current Decision Matrix (03/19/2023)

Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.

The VA Decision Matrix displays the current and future VA IT position regarding different releases of a TRM entry. These decisions are based upon the best information available as of the most current date. The consumer of this information has the responsibility to consult the organizations responsible for the desktop, testing, and/or production environments to ensure that the target version of the technology will be supported. Any major.minor version that is not listed in the VA Decision Matrix is considered unapproved for use.

Legend:

White	Approved: The technology/standard has been approved for use.
Yellow	Approved w/Constraints: The technology/standard can be used within the specified constraints located below the decision matrix in the footnote[1] and on the General tab.
Gray	Unapproved: This technology or standard can be used only if a POA&M review is conducted and signed by the Authorizing Official Designated Representative (AODR) as designated by the Authorizing Official (AO) or designee and based upon a recommendation from the POA&M Compliance Enforcement, has been granted to the project team or organization that wishes to use the technology.
Orange	Divest: VA has decided to divest itself on the use of the technology/standard. As a result, all projects currently utilizing the technology/standard must plan to eliminate their use of the technology/standard. Additional information on when the entry is projected to become unapproved may be found on the Decision tab for the specific entry.
Black	Prohibited: The technology/standard is not (currently) permitted to be used under any circumstances.
Blue	Planning/Evaluation Constraint:The period of time this technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population. If a customer would like to use this technology, please work with your local or Regional OI&T office and contact the appropriate evaluation office displayed in the notes below the decision matrix. The Local or Regional OI&T office should submit an inquiry to the TRM if they require further assistance or if the evaluating office is not listed in the notes below.

Release/Version Information:

VA decisions for specific versions may include a ‘.x’ wildcard, which denotes a decision that pertains to a range of multiple versions.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 7.x would cover any version of 7.(Anything) - 7.(Anything). However, a 7.4.x decision would cover any version of 7.4.(Anything), but would not cover any version of 7.5.x or 7.6.x on the TRM.

VA decisions for specific versions may include ‘+’ symbols; which denotes that the decision for the version specified also includes versions greater than what is specified but is not to exceed or affect previous decimal places.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 12.6.4+ would cover any version that is greater than 12.6.4, but would not exceed the .6 decimal ie: 12.6.401 is ok, 12.6.5 is ok, 12.6.9 is ok, however 12.7.0 or 13.0 is not.

<Past

CY2019

CY2020

CY2021

Future>

Release

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

6.0

Unapproved

7.0 (All)

Unapproved

8.0 (Clients)

Prohibited

8.0 (Servers)

Unapproved

9.0 (Clients)

Unapproved

9.0 (Servers)

Unapproved

10.0 (Clients)

Prohibited

10.0 (Servers)

Divest
[10, 11, 12]

Divest
[6, 10, 11]

Unapproved

11.0.x (Clients)

Approved w/Constraints
[10, 11, 12]

Approved w/Constraints
[6, 10, 11]

Approved w/Constraints
[6, 11, 13]

Divest
[6, 11, 13]

11.0.x (Servers)

Approved w/Constraints
[10, 11, 12]

Approved w/Constraints
[6, 10, 11]

Approved w/Constraints
[6, 11, 13]

Divest
[6, 11, 13]

Decision Constraints


[1]	This Technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population.

[2]	Product must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. Configuration and deployment standards for Internet Explorer images which are defined and maintained by the Client Services organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to unless an appropriate waiver is granted. IE8 is only approved for use on Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2 and are not on workstations. IE10 and IE 11 are under evaluation and are currently not approved for production use without a project waiver from ESE Client Services or the AERB.

[3]	Product must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal andProduct must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. Configuration and deployment standards for Internet Explorer images which are defined and maintained by the Client Services organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. IE7 is the standard for Windows XP; IE9 is the standard on Windows 7; IE8 is only approved for use on Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2 and not on workstations. IE10 is prohibited. IE 11 currently not approved for production except as part of an official Enterprise System Engineering (ESE) production pilot or production test of the this version as approved by ESE Core Systems Engineering or an AERB waiver while under evaluation.

[4]	Product must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. IE on Windows Client version combinations, baseline configuration and deployment standards which are defined and maintained by the Client Services organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. IE on Windows Sever version combinations, baseline configuration, and deployment standards which are defined and maintained by the Core Systems Engineering organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. IE7 is the standard for Windows XP; IE9 is the standard on Windows 7 and is migrating to IE 11; IE8 & IE10 are prohibited on Clients; IE 11 is currently not approved for production Clients until 1Q2015 except as part of an official Enterprise System Engineering (ESE) production pilot or production test of the this version as approved by ESE Client Services or an AERB waiver while under evaluation.

[5]	IE on Windows Client version combinations, baseline configuration and deployment standards, which are defined and maintained by the Client Services organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. IE on Windows Sever version combinations, baseline configuration, and deployment standards, which are defined and maintained by the Core Systems Engineering organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. IE11 is new the standard on Windows 7 and is currently migrating from IE9 in production as of 1Q2015; IE8 & IE10 are prohibited on Clients; IE7 is the standard for Windows XP and is end of life.

[6]	Technology must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal and Department security policies and guidelines in order to mitigate known and future security vulnerabilities.

[7]	IE on Windows Client version combinations, baseline configuration and deployment standards which are defined and maintained by the Client Services organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. IE on Windows Sever version combinations, baseline configuration, and deployment standards which are defined and maintained by the Core Systems Engineering organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. IE11 is the new standard on Windows 7 and is currently migrating from IE9 in production as of 1Q2015; IE8 & IE10 are prohibited on Clients; IE7 is the standard for Windows XP and is end of life. As of 1/12/2016 only IE11 is supported on all VA approved Microsoft server and clients with one exception: IE10 is still supported on server 2012.

[8]	IE on Windows Client version combinations, baseline configuration and deployment standards which are defined and maintained by the Client Services organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. IE on Windows Sever version combinations, baseline configuration, and deployment standards which are defined and maintained by the Core Systems Engineering organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to.

[9]	Internet Explorer on Windows Client version combinations, baseline configuration and deployment standards which are defined and maintained by the Client Services organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. Internet Explorer on Windows Sever version combinations, baseline configuration, and deployment standards which are defined and maintained by the Core Systems Engineering organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. This web browser can use Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (S-HTTP) but S-HTTP is currently marked for divestiture. User must use other approved transfer protocols to remain Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 compliant.

[10]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[11]	Due to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) identified security vulnerabilities, extra vigilance should be applied to ensure the versions remain properly patched to mitigate known and future vulnerabilities. The local ISO can provide assistance in reviewing the NIST vulnerabilities.

[12]	Internet Explorer on Windows Client version combinations, baseline configuration and deployment standards which are defined and maintained by the Client Services organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. Internet Explorer on Windows Sever version combinations, baseline configuration, and deployment standards which are defined and maintained by the Core Systems Engineering organization within VA Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) must be followed and adhered to. This web browser can use Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (S-HTTP) but S-HTTP is currently marked for divestiture. User must use other approved transfer protocols to remain Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 compliant.

[13]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

Note:

At the time of writing, 11.0.126 is the latest version, which was released 05/18/2019. The current baselines for Windows 10 are; 11.1087.16299.0 and 11.503.17763.0. For Windows 7 and Windows Server the baseline is 11.0.9600.19326.

Microsoft has announced Internet Explorer`s End of Life date as June 15, 2022. As such, it has been divested until that point.

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description
Vendor Provided*	Microsoft Support Lifecycle		This link provides the Internet Explorer lifecycle support information.
Vendor Provided*	Office 365 to end support of IE 11	Microsoft	Office 365 to end support for Internet Explorer (IE) 11.
*NOTE: Vendor provided information is subject to the accuracy of the manufacturer.

Technology Components

Note: This list may not be complete. No component, listed or unlisted, may be used outside of the technology in which it is released. The usage decision for a component is found in the Decision and Decision Constraints.
Name	Description
No components have been identified for this entry.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Collaboration and Electronic Workplace Productivity Software	Web Browsers

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Windows Client - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Server - Approved w/Constraints

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

No runtime dependencies have been identified.

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

This technology may improve productivity for staff who conduct internet research on a windows operating system.
This is a well documented technology.

Adoption Risks

Microsoft has announced the retirement of Internet Explorer (IE) 11. On June 15th, 2022, the IE web browser will no longer be supported or available to launch within the Windows operating system (OS).
Due to the rapid release schedule of this technology, the VA may be unable to update to the most recent patch and may require a deployment model requiring the use of specific versions.
There are known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) and VA Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) vulnerabilities. Please see the NVD - Results (nist.gov) for more details.
The potential exists to store Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI) and/or VA Sensitive data and proper security standards must be followed in these cases.

Architectural Benefits

The use of virtual machines may improve the ability to evaluate, test and troubleshoot new operating systems, applications and patches through the provision of isolated test environments.

Architectural Risks

This technology is only portable on the windows platform.

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