CVE-2011-0077 in Firefox
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the browser engine in Mozilla Firefox 3.5.x before 3.5.19 and 3.6.x before 3.6.17, Thunderbird before 3.1.10, and SeaMonkey before 2.0.14 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2011-0072, CVE-2011-0074, CVE-2011-0075, and CVE-2011-0078.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/06/2021
This vulnerability affects the browser engine components of major Mozilla products including Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey, representing a critical security flaw that could enable remote code execution or denial of service attacks. The vulnerability exists in versions prior to specific patch releases, with Firefox 3.5.x before 3.5.19 and 3.6.x before 3.6.17, Thunderbird before 3.1.10, and SeaMonkey before 2.0.14 being particularly susceptible. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability vectors makes this particularly dangerous as it could encompass multiple attack surfaces within the browser engine's memory management and processing mechanisms.
The technical flaw manifests as memory corruption issues that can occur during normal browser operation when processing certain web content or email messages. These memory corruption vulnerabilities typically arise from improper handling of memory allocation, deallocation, or access patterns within the browser's rendering engine or mail client components. When exploited, these flaws can cause applications to crash unexpectedly or potentially allow attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the affected application. The vulnerability's classification as a memory corruption issue aligns with common CWE categories such as CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) and CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) which are frequently found in browser engine implementations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple application crashes to potentially enable full system compromise when attackers can leverage the memory corruption to execute malicious code. Remote attackers can craft malicious web pages or email content that, when processed by vulnerable applications, triggers the memory corruption and allows for arbitrary code execution. This creates a significant risk for end users who may inadvertently visit compromised websites or open malicious email attachments, particularly in enterprise environments where email clients and web browsers are primary attack vectors. The vulnerability's presence in multiple Mozilla products increases the attack surface significantly, making it a high-priority target for threat actors seeking to exploit these widely-used applications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability focus primarily on immediate patch deployment and application updates to the latest secure versions. Organizations should implement rapid deployment procedures to update all affected Mozilla products to their patched versions, which include fixes for the memory corruption issues. Network-based mitigations such as web application firewalls and content filtering systems can provide additional protection layers, though they are not foolproof against sophisticated attacks. Security teams should also implement monitoring for suspicious network traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on unusual memory access patterns or application crash reports from affected systems. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any remaining unpatched systems within the organization's infrastructure, as this vulnerability represents a significant risk to overall security posture and could potentially be used as a foothold for more extensive attacks within compromised networks.