CVE-2007-3144 in Mozilla
Summary
by MITRE
Visual truncation vulnerability in Mozilla 1.7.12 allows remote attackers to spoof the address bar and possibly conduct phishing attacks via a long hostname, which is truncated after a certain number of characters, as demonstrated by a phishing attack using HTTP Basic Authentication.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/03/2018
The vulnerability described in CVE-2007-3144 represents a significant visual spoofing risk within the Mozilla Firefox browser version 1.7.12. This issue stems from the browser's handling of hostname display in the address bar, where extremely long hostnames are visually truncated, creating opportunities for malicious actors to manipulate user perception and deceive victims into believing they are visiting legitimate websites when they are actually interacting with fraudulent ones.
The technical flaw manifests in the browser's address bar rendering logic where hostnames exceeding a predetermined character limit are truncated, potentially hiding critical portions of the domain name that could indicate malicious intent. This truncation behavior creates a window for attackers to craft hostnames that appear legitimate when displayed in the truncated format but contain hidden malicious components in their full form. The vulnerability becomes particularly dangerous when combined with HTTP Basic Authentication mechanisms, as demonstrated in the original proof-of-concept where attackers could create phishing scenarios that appear authentic to users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple visual deception to encompass serious security implications for user trust and authentication processes. When users see a truncated address bar displaying what appears to be a legitimate website, they may unknowingly provide credentials or sensitive information through HTTP Basic Authentication prompts. This creates a significant risk for man-in-the-middle attacks and credential theft, as users cannot reliably verify the true destination of their connections based on address bar content alone. The vulnerability operates at the user interface level, making it particularly insidious because it exploits human trust in visual indicators rather than technical protocol failures.
This vulnerability maps to CWE-693 in the Common Weakness Enumeration, which specifically addresses protection mechanisms that are bypassed due to improper handling of visual or user interface elements. The attack pattern aligns with techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1566 category, which covers social engineering methods including phishing attacks that leverage visual deception. The attack vector specifically demonstrates how attackers can manipulate user perception through interface manipulation, bypassing traditional security controls by exploiting the trust users place in visual indicators such as address bar content.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require both browser-level fixes and user education approaches. Browser vendors must implement more robust hostname display mechanisms that either prevent truncation of critical domain components or clearly indicate when truncation has occurred. Users should be educated about the importance of verifying full URLs even when address bars appear to show legitimate sites, particularly when authentication prompts appear. Additionally, implementing visual indicators for truncated hostnames, such as ellipsis notation with tooltip displays showing the full hostname, would significantly reduce the risk of successful spoofing attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security layers such as HSTS enforcement and certificate pinning to provide defense in depth against such visual spoofing techniques.