CVE-2012-1963 in Firefox
Summary
by MITRE
The Content Security Policy (CSP) functionality 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 does not properly restrict the strings placed into the blocked-uri parameter of a violation report, which allows remote web servers to capture OpenID credentials and OAuth 2.0 access tokens by triggering a violation.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/21/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2012-1963 represents a critical security flaw in the Content Security Policy implementation across multiple Mozilla browser products including Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey. This issue stems from improper handling of the blocked-uri parameter within CSP violation reports, creating a vector for credential theft through malicious web server exploitation. The vulnerability affects versions ranging from 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, indicating a widespread impact across the Mozilla ecosystem. The technical flaw manifests when remote web servers can manipulate the blocked-uri parameter to capture sensitive information from CSP violation reports, specifically targeting OpenID credentials and OAuth 2.0 access tokens. This vulnerability operates under the CWE-20 category of Improper Input Validation, where the system fails to properly validate and sanitize user-supplied data before incorporating it into security reports. The operational impact is severe as attackers can exploit this weakness to intercept authentication tokens and credentials that users have entered into web forms, particularly those using OpenID or OAuth 2.0 authentication mechanisms. The attack vector involves crafting malicious web content that triggers CSP violations, causing the browser to send violation reports containing the attacker-controlled URI parameter. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1566.001 - Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment and T1566.002 - Phishing: Spearphishing Link, as it enables attackers to create convincing phishing scenarios that can capture authentication tokens. The security implications extend beyond simple credential theft to potential session hijacking and unauthorized access to protected resources. Organizations using affected Mozilla products face significant risk of credential compromise, particularly in environments where users frequently authenticate using OpenID or OAuth 2.0 protocols. The vulnerability demonstrates how security controls designed to prevent cross-site scripting and other injection attacks can themselves become attack vectors when not properly implemented. Remediation requires immediate patching of affected versions, with users upgrading to patched releases of Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey. Security administrators should implement network monitoring to detect unusual CSP violation report patterns and consider implementing additional authentication security measures such as multi-factor authentication to mitigate potential credential theft. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of proper input sanitization in security reporting mechanisms and underscores the need for comprehensive testing of security feature implementations. Organizations should conduct vulnerability assessments to identify systems running affected software versions and ensure all users are updated to patched releases to prevent exploitation of this credential capture mechanism.