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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2004-0779

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2004-08-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The (1) Mozilla 1.6, (2) Firebird 0.7 and (3) Firefox 0.8 web browsers do not properly verify that cached passwords for SSL encrypted sites are only sent via SSL encrypted sessions to the site, which allows a remote attacker to cause a cached password to be sent in cleartext to a spoofed site.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Mozilla/Firefox browsers before certain versions stored SSL site passwords in a way that allowed them to be transmitted in cleartext to spoofed sites, bypassing the SSL protection intended for those credentials.

MitigationUpgrade to patched browser versions (Mozilla 1.7+, Firefox 0.9+) or use alternative browsers; ensure users do not store passwords for sensitive SSL sites in browser password managers.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
FirefoxWeb browser
Affected:= 0.8
FirebirdApplication
Affected:= 0.7
MozillaApplication
Affected:= 1.6

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Firefox version
    Check Help > About Mozilla Firefox or run: firefox -version
    Affected if Version is exactly 0.8 (unpatched)
  2. Identify installed Mozilla version
    Check Help > About Mozilla or run: mozilla -version
    Affected if Version is exactly 1.6 (unpatched)
  3. Verify password manager usage
    Access browser password manager (Tools > Options > Privacy > Saved Passwords in older versions) and check if any SSL site passwords are stored
    Affected if Any SSL website credentials are saved in the browser's password manager
  4. Confirm SSL password storage behavior
    Inspect stored password entries - the vulnerability allows passwords for HTTPS sites to be submitted to HTTP spoofed versions of those sites
    Affected if Passwords for SSL/HTTPS sites exist in storage and browser does not enforce HTTPS-only connections for stored credentials

You are affected if using Firefox 0.8 or Mozilla 1.6 AND you have SSL site passwords saved in the browser's password manager, as these versions transmit stored credentials to spoofed sites in cleartext.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to patched browser versions (Mozilla 1.7+, Firefox 0.9+) or use alternative browsers; ensure users do not store passwords for sensitive SSL sites in browser password managers.

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
3.0 hours of engineering $750
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2004-0779 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data