// For flags

CVE-2021-23987

Mozilla: Memory safety bugs fixed in Firefox 87 and Firefox ESR 78.9

Severity Score

8.8
*CVSS v3.1

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

0
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

-
*SSVC
Descriptions

Mozilla developers and community members reported memory safety bugs present in Firefox 86 and Firefox ESR 78.8. Some of these bugs showed evidence of memory corruption and we presume that with enough effort some of these could have been exploited to run arbitrary code. This vulnerability affects Firefox ESR < 78.9, Firefox < 87, and Thunderbird < 78.9.

Los desarrolladores y miembros de la comunidad de Mozilla informaron de fallos de seguridad de memoria presentes en Firefox 86 y Firefox ESR 78.8. Algunos de estos fallos mostraban evidencias de corrupción de memoria y suponemos que con suficiente esfuerzo algunos de ellos podrían haber sido explotados para ejecutar código arbitrario. Esta vulnerabilidad afecta a Firefox ESR versiones anteriores a 78.9, Firefox versiones anteriores a 87 y Thunderbird versiones anteriores a 78.9

The Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory describes this issue as: Mozilla developers and community members reported memory safety bugs present in Firefox 86 and Firefox ESR 78.8. Some of these bugs showed evidence of memory corruption and we presume that with enough effort some of these could have been exploited to run arbitrary code.

USN-4995-1 fixed vulnerabilities in Thunderbird. This update provides the corresponding updates for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Multiple security issues were discovered in Thunderbird. If a user were tricked into opening a specially crafted website in a browsing context, an attacker could potentially exploit these to cause a denial of service, obtain sensitive information, spoof the UI, bypass security restrictions, or execute arbitrary code. It was discovered that extensions could open popup windows with control of the window title in some circumstances. If a user were tricked into installing a specially crafted extension, an attacker could potentially exploit this to spoof a website and trick the user into providing credentials. Multiple security issues were discovered in Thunderbird's OpenPGP integration. If a user were tricked into importing a specially crafted key in some circumstances, an attacker could potentially exploit this to cause a denial of service or confuse the user. A use-after-free was discovered when Responsive Design Mode was enabled. If a user were tricked into opening a specially crafted website with Responsive Design Mode enabled, an attacker could potentially exploit this to cause a denial of service, or execute arbitrary code. It was discovered that Thunderbird mishandled ftp URLs with encoded newline characters. If a user were tricked into clicking on a specially crafted link, an attacker could potentially exploit this to send arbitrary FTP commands. It was discovered that Thunderbird wrote signatures to disk and read them back during verification. A local attacker could potentially exploit this to replace the data with another signature file. It was discovered that Thunderbird might load an alternative OTR library. If a user were tricked into copying a specially crafted library to one of Thunderbird's search paths, an attacker could potentially exploit this to execute arbitrary code. It was discovered that secret keys imported into Thunderbird were stored unencrypted. A local attacker could potentially exploit this to obtain private keys. It was discovered that Thunderbird did not indicate when an inline signed or encrypted message contained additional unprotected parts. Various other issues were also addressed.

*Credits: N/A
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Medium
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:-
Exploitation
-
Automatable
-
Tech. Impact
-
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2021-01-13 CVE Reserved
  • 2021-03-25 CVE Published
  • 2024-08-03 CVE Updated
  • 2025-03-30 EPSS Updated
  • ---------- Exploited in Wild
  • ---------- KEV Due Date
  • ---------- First Exploit
CWE
  • CWE-120: Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input ('Classic Buffer Overflow')
  • CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write
CAPEC
Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions
Vendor Product Version Other Status
Vendor Product Version Other Status <-- --> Vendor Product Version Other Status
Mozilla
Search vendor "Mozilla"
Firefox
Search vendor "Mozilla" for product "Firefox"
< 87.0
Search vendor "Mozilla" for product "Firefox" and version " < 87.0"
-
Affected
Mozilla
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Firefox Esr
Search vendor "Mozilla" for product "Firefox Esr"
< 78.9
Search vendor "Mozilla" for product "Firefox Esr" and version " < 78.9"
-
Affected
Mozilla
Search vendor "Mozilla"
Thunderbird
Search vendor "Mozilla" for product "Thunderbird"
< 78.9
Search vendor "Mozilla" for product "Thunderbird" and version " < 78.9"
-
Affected