CVE-2012-1953 in Firefox
Summary
by MITRE
The ElementAnimations::EnsureStyleRuleFor function in Mozilla Firefox 4.x through 13.0, Firefox ESR 10.x before 10.0.6, Thunderbird 5.0 through 13.0, Thunderbird ESR 10.x before 10.0.6, and SeaMonkey before 2.11 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (buffer over-read, incorrect pointer dereference, and heap-based buffer overflow) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted web site.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/21/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-1953 represents a critical memory corruption flaw affecting multiple Mozilla-based applications including Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey. This issue resides within the ElementAnimations::EnsureStyleRuleFor function which handles CSS animation processing in web content rendering. The flaw manifests when the browser encounters specially crafted web pages that trigger specific conditions during CSS animation style rule generation, creating a dangerous scenario where memory access violations can occur. The vulnerability operates at the intersection of web rendering and memory management, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited through standard web browsing activities without requiring special privileges or user interaction beyond visiting a malicious website.
The technical nature of this vulnerability encompasses multiple memory corruption vectors including buffer over-reads, incorrect pointer dereferences, and heap-based buffer overflows. These conditions arise from inadequate bounds checking within the animation style rule processing logic when handling complex CSS animations. The flaw specifically affects versions of Firefox from 4.x through 13.0, Firefox ESR 10.x before 10.0.6, Thunderbird 5.0 through 13.0, Thunderbird ESR 10.x before 10.0.6, and SeaMonkey before 2.11, indicating a widespread impact across the Mozilla ecosystem. The memory corruption occurs during the processing of CSS animations where the system fails to properly validate input parameters or memory allocation boundaries, leading to unpredictable behavior that can result in application crashes or potentially arbitrary code execution.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for end users and organizations as it enables remote code execution capabilities through web-based attacks. The attack surface is extensive given that the flaw exists in widely deployed browser applications and can be triggered simply by visiting a malicious website. Security analysts categorize this vulnerability under CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) and CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) as it involves improper bounds checking in memory operations. The potential for exploitation aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 (Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell) and T1203 (Exploitation for Client Execution) as attackers can leverage this vulnerability to execute malicious code on targeted systems. The impact extends beyond simple denial of service as the heap-based buffer overflow can be weaponized to gain control over the browser process, potentially allowing attackers to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the user running the browser application.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including updating to patched versions of affected applications, as Mozilla released security updates addressing this vulnerability. The recommended approach involves deploying security patches across all affected browsers and email clients to prevent exploitation. Additional defensive measures include implementing web content filtering solutions, enabling sandboxing features where available, and educating users about avoiding untrusted websites. Security monitoring should focus on detecting unusual browser behavior or memory access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper memory management in complex web rendering engines and underscores the need for comprehensive security testing of animation and styling components in browser applications. Organizations should also consider implementing network-level protections such as intrusion prevention systems that can detect and block known exploit patterns associated with this vulnerability.