CVE-2005-0144 in Firefox
Summary
by MITRE
Firefox before 1.0 and Mozilla before 1.7.5 display the secure site lock icon when a view-source: URL references a secure SSL site while an insecure page is being loaded, which could facilitate phishing attacks.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/06/2019
This vulnerability exists in mozilla firefox versions prior to 1.0 and mozilla browser versions prior to 1.7.5 where the security indicators are incorrectly displayed when viewing source code of secure ssl sites through view-source: protocol urls. the flaw allows attackers to exploit the visual security cues that users rely upon to distinguish between secure and insecure web pages. when a user navigates to an insecure page while a view-source: url references a secure ssl site, the browser incorrectly displays the secure site lock icon, creating a false sense of security for users. this misrepresentation occurs because the browser fails to properly validate the security context of the referenced ssl site when the view-source: protocol is used. the vulnerability directly relates to CWE-613, which addresses insufficient session validation, and falls under the broader category of improper security indicator handling. according to the mitre att&ck framework, this represents a technique for social engineering and credential access through deceptive security indicators. the operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables phishing attacks by making users believe they are interacting with secure websites when they are not. attackers can leverage this flaw by creating malicious pages that reference legitimate secure sites through view-source: urls, thereby deceiving users into trusting potentially malicious content. the vulnerability exploits user trust in security visual cues and can lead to credential theft, data compromise, and other malicious activities. organizations should immediately upgrade to patched versions of firefox and mozilla browsers to mitigate this risk, as the vulnerability affects the fundamental security model of web browsers. additional mitigations include user education about security indicators, implementation of web application firewalls, and monitoring for suspicious view-source: url patterns in web traffic. the flaw demonstrates the critical importance of proper security context validation in web browsers and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of protocol handling mechanisms. without proper patching, users remain vulnerable to sophisticated phishing attacks that exploit the trust users place in visual security indicators. this vulnerability underscores the necessity of maintaining up-to-date browser security implementations and proper validation of security contexts across all browser protocols and features.