CVE-2007-1362 in Mozilla
Summary
by MITRE
Mozilla Firefox 1.5.x before 1.5.0.12 and 2.x before 2.0.0.4, and SeaMonkey 1.0.9 and 1.1.2, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via (1) a large cookie path parameter, which triggers memory consumption, or (2) an internal delimiter within cookie path or name values, which could trigger a misinterpretation of cookie data, aka "Path Abuse in Cookies."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/12/2025
This vulnerability affects Mozilla Firefox versions 1.5.x prior to 1.5.0.12 and 2.x prior to 2.0.0.4, as well as SeaMonkey versions 1.0.9 and 1.1.2, representing a critical denial of service flaw in cookie handling mechanisms. The vulnerability stems from improper validation of cookie path parameters and delimiter handling within cookie data structures, creating conditions where maliciously crafted cookie values can trigger system resource exhaustion or data misinterpretation. The technical implementation involves the browser's cookie parsing logic failing to properly sanitize or limit the size of cookie path components, allowing attackers to supply excessively large path values that consume disproportionate memory resources. Additionally, the flaw manifests when internal delimiters present within cookie path or name values are not properly escaped or interpreted, leading to potential cookie data corruption or misrepresentation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass potential data integrity issues within web applications that rely on cookie-based session management. When attackers exploit the large cookie path parameter vulnerability, they can cause memory exhaustion that leads to browser crashes or system instability, effectively creating a denial of service condition for legitimate users. The path abuse aspect creates a more subtle but equally dangerous scenario where cookie parsing errors can result in cookies being interpreted incorrectly, potentially leading to session hijacking or privilege escalation attacks. This vulnerability directly relates to CWE-122, which describes heap-based buffer overflows, and CWE-126, which covers buffer over-read conditions, both of which are common in improper input validation scenarios. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and T1566.002, covering spearphishing through social engineering.
The root cause of this vulnerability lies in inadequate input validation and sanitization within the browser's cookie processing pipeline, where path parameters are not properly bounded or escaped before being processed. Attackers can leverage this weakness by crafting cookie values containing excessive path data or embedded delimiters that bypass normal parsing logic, causing the browser to allocate excessive memory or misinterpret cookie data. The vulnerability demonstrates a classic example of insufficient resource management in web browser implementations, where the system fails to enforce reasonable limits on cookie parameter sizes. Security practitioners should note that this vulnerability requires no user interaction beyond visiting a malicious website, making it particularly dangerous in phishing scenarios. The fix implemented by Mozilla involved adding proper bounds checking and delimiter escaping mechanisms to cookie path processing, ensuring that cookie values are properly sanitized before being stored or processed. Organizations should prioritize patching affected browsers to prevent exploitation, as the vulnerability can be easily weaponized in automated attack scenarios targeting web applications that depend on proper cookie handling for authentication and session management functions.