CVE-2013-0801 in Firefox
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in the browser engine in Mozilla Firefox before 21.0, Firefox ESR 17.x before 17.0.6, Thunderbird before 17.0.6, and Thunderbird ESR 17.x before 17.0.6 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/11/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-0801 represents a critical security flaw affecting multiple Mozilla applications including Firefox and Thunderbird across several versions. This issue resides within the browser engine component that processes web content and handles various media formats. The vulnerability affects Firefox versions prior to 21.0, Firefox ESR 17.x versions before 17.0.6, Thunderbird versions before 17.0.6, and Thunderbird ESR 17.x versions before 17.0.6, indicating a widespread impact across the Mozilla ecosystem. The affected browser engine is responsible for rendering web pages, processing multimedia content, and managing various web standards implementations.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from unspecified flaws within the browser engine's memory management and code execution pathways. These unspecified vectors likely involve memory corruption issues that can occur when processing malformed or malicious web content. The vulnerability allows attackers to exploit memory handling mechanisms through crafted web pages or content that triggers unexpected behavior in the browser's rendering engine. The unspecified nature of the attack vectors suggests multiple potential pathways for exploitation, including issues related to buffer overflows, use-after-free conditions, or other memory corruption vulnerabilities that are particularly dangerous in browser contexts where untrusted content is processed.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-0801 is severe and multifaceted, providing attackers with the capability to either cause denial of service through application crashes or potentially achieve remote code execution. When exploited, these vulnerabilities can result in complete system compromise, as browsers are often the primary attack surface for web-based exploits. The memory corruption aspects of this vulnerability make it particularly dangerous because they can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the browser process. This capability allows attackers to bypass security boundaries, install malware, steal sensitive information, or take complete control of affected systems. The vulnerability affects users across multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems where these Mozilla applications are installed.
Security researchers have classified this vulnerability under multiple categories including CWE-119 for memory corruption and CWE-787 for out-of-bounds write conditions. The attack patterns associated with this vulnerability align with techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under T1059 for command and scripting interpreter and T1203 for exploitation for privilege escalation. Organizations and users should immediately apply the security patches released by Mozilla to address this vulnerability, as the affected versions remain susceptible to exploitation. The recommended mitigation strategy involves upgrading to the patched versions of Firefox 21.0, Firefox ESR 17.0.6, Thunderbird 17.0.6, and Thunderbird ESR 17.0.6, which contain fixes for the underlying memory corruption issues. Additionally, administrators should consider implementing additional security measures such as browser hardening, content filtering, and user education to reduce the risk of successful exploitation attempts.