Mozilla Firefox/Thunderbird 24.0 HTML Document ContentIsHostIncludingDescendantOf use after free

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
9.5$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird 24.0. This issue affects the function nsContentUtils::ContentIsHostIncludingDescendantOf of the component HTML Document Handler. This manipulation causes use after free. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2013-5603. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird 24.0 (Web Browser). It has been declared as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function nsContentUtils::ContentIsHostIncludingDescendantOf of the component HTML Document Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

Use-after-free vulnerability in the nsContentUtils::ContentIsHostIncludingDescendantOf function in Mozilla Firefox before 25.0, Firefox ESR 24.x before 24.1, Thunderbird before 24.1, and SeaMonkey before 2.22 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (heap memory corruption) via vectors involving HTML document templates.

The weakness was shared 10/29/2013 by Abhishek Arya (Inferno) with Google Chrome Security Team as Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory 2013-102 as confirmed advisory (Website). It is possible to read the advisory at mozilla.org. The vendor cooperated in the coordination of the public release. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2013-5603 since 08/26/2013. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 11/25/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 70701 (FreeBSD : mozilla -- multiple vulnerabilities (81f866ad-41a4-11e3-a4af-0025905a4771)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family FreeBSD Local Security Checks. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 195848 (Ubuntu Security Notification for Thunderbird Vulnerabilities (USN-2010-1)).

Upgrading to version 25.0 eliminates this vulnerability. The upgrade is hosted for download at mozilla.org. A possible mitigation has been published immediately after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (70701), SecurityFocus (BID 63405†), OSVDB (99095†), Secunia (SA55483†) and Vulnerability Center (SBV-42133†). Additional details are provided at mozilla.org. The entries VDB-11047, VDB-11048, VDB-11049 and VDB-11050 are related to this item. Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

  • Firefox 24.0
  • Thunderbird 24.0
  • SeaMonkey 2.21
  • Firefox ESR 24.0

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Nessus ID: 70701
Nessus Name: FreeBSD : mozilla -- multiple vulnerabilities (81f866ad-41a4-11e3-a4af-0025905a4771)
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 803349
OpenVAS Name: Mozilla Firefox ESR Multiple Vulnerabilities-01 Nov13 (Windows)
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

Reaction Time: 🔍
0-Day Time: 🔍
Exposure Time: 🔍

Upgrade: Firefox/Thunderbird 25.0

Timelineinfo

08/26/2013 🔍
10/29/2013 +63 days 🔍
10/29/2013 +0 days 🔍
10/29/2013 +0 days 🔍
10/29/2013 +0 days 🔍
10/30/2013 +1 days 🔍
10/30/2013 +0 days 🔍
10/30/2013 +0 days 🔍
11/01/2013 +2 days 🔍
11/25/2025 +4407 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: mozilla.org
Product: mozilla.org

Advisory: Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory 2013-102
Researcher: Abhishek Arya (Inferno)
Organization: Google Chrome Security Team
Status: Confirmed
Confirmation: 🔍
Coordinated: 🔍

CVE: CVE-2013-5603 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2013-5603
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-11059

OVAL: 🔍
IAVM: 🔍

SecurityFocus: 63405
Secunia: 55483 - Ubuntu update for firefox, Highly Critical
OSVDB: 99095
Vulnerability Center: 42133 - Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird and Seamonkey Remote Code Execution and DoS During Interaction with HTML Document Templates (CVE-2013-5603), Critical

Misc.: 🔍
See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 11/01/2013 10:47
Updated: 11/25/2025 19:51
Changes: 11/01/2013 10:47 (90), 01/31/2018 09:54 (1), 06/01/2021 15:31 (3), 06/01/2021 15:37 (1), 11/25/2025 19:51 (15)
Complete: 🔍
Committer:
Cache ID: 216:DBB:103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Do you know our Splunk app?

Download it now for free!