CVE-2010-1197 in Firefox
Summary
by MITRE
Mozilla Firefox 3.5.x before 3.5.10 and 3.6.x before 3.6.4, and SeaMonkey before 2.0.5, does not properly handle situations in which both "Content-Disposition: attachment" and "Content-Type: multipart" are present in HTTP headers, which allows remote attackers to conduct cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks via an uploaded HTML document.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/18/2021
This vulnerability resides in the web browser security model of mozilla firefox and seamonkey applications where improper handling of specific http header combinations creates a cross site scripting attack vector. The flaw specifically manifests when both Content-Disposition: attachment and Content-Type: multipart headers are simultaneously present in http responses, allowing malicious actors to exploit the browser's content processing logic. The vulnerability affects firefox versions 3.5.x prior to 3.5.10 and 3.6.x prior to 3.6.4, as well as seamonkey versions before 2.0.5, representing a significant security gap in the browsers' content disposition and type handling mechanisms. The technical implementation involves the browser's failure to properly validate or sanitize content when these conflicting headers are encountered during file download processing. When an attacker crafts a malicious http response containing both headers, the browser's parsing logic becomes confused about how to properly handle the content, creating an opportunity for attackers to inject malicious javascript code that executes in the context of the victim's browsing session. This vulnerability directly maps to cwe-79 cross site scripting and aligns with attack techniques described in the mitre att&ck framework under initial access and execution phases. The operational impact extends beyond simple script execution as it allows attackers to potentially steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of users, and gain persistent access to victim systems through the exploitation of the browser's content handling logic. The flaw represents a classic case of improper input validation where the browser fails to properly validate the combination of headers, creating a path for malicious content to bypass security restrictions. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability by hosting malicious content on web servers that return the specific header combination, causing the browser to incorrectly process the content and execute the embedded javascript. The security implications are particularly severe given that these vulnerable versions were widely deployed, making the attack surface substantial. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including updating to patched versions of firefox and seamonkey, deploying web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious header combinations, and educating users about avoiding suspicious downloads. Additionally, security teams should monitor for exploitation attempts through network traffic analysis looking for the specific header patterns associated with this vulnerability. The fix implemented by mozilla involved strengthening the content disposition and content type header validation logic to properly handle conflicting headers and prevent the execution of malicious content. This vulnerability highlights the importance of proper header validation and content processing in web browsers, demonstrating how seemingly minor implementation flaws can create significant security risks. The attack vector relies on the victim's browser processing the malicious content without proper sanitization, making user awareness and timely patching critical defense mechanisms. The vulnerability also underscores the need for robust input validation in web applications and the importance of following security best practices as outlined in industry standards and frameworks.