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Opera BrowserApplication · Opera

CVE-2007-5541

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2007-10-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 9.23 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Unspecified vulnerability in Opera before 9.24, when using an "external" newsgroup or e-mail client, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via unknown vectors.

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 · moderate confidence

Opera browser before version 9.24 contains a command injection vulnerability when configured to use external newsgroup or email clients. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the affected system through unspecified vectors related to the external client integration.

MitigationUpgrade Opera to version 9.24 or later; if upgrading is not feasible, disable the external newsgroup/email client integration feature in Opera's configuration settings.

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
Opera BrowserApplication
Affected:<= 9.23= 1.00= 2.00= 2.10= 2.12= 3.00= 3.10= 3.21= 3.50= 3.51= 3.60= 3.61

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
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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. Check if Opera Browser is installed
    Locate the Opera executable. Common paths: C:\Program Files\Opera\opera.exe on Windows, /Applications/Opera.app on macOS, or /usr/bin/opera on Linux. Use 'where opera' (Windows) or 'which opera' (Linux/macOS) to find it.
    Affected if Opera is not found on the system, then this CVE does not apply.
  2. Determine the installed Opera version
    Run 'opera --version' from command line, or open Opera, go to Help > About Opera to view the version number.
    Affected if The installed version is 9.23 or earlier, or matches any of these: 1.00, 2.00, 2.10, 2.12, 3.00, 3.10, 3.21, 3.50, 3.51, 3.60, 3.61.
  3. Verify if external newsgroup client is configured
    In Opera, go to Settings > Preferences > News (or Tools > Preferences > News on older versions). Check if a custom news server or external news client application is specified in the News group server settings.
    Affected if A custom external news client application is configured in Opera's news settings.
  4. Verify if external email client is configured
    In Opera, go to Settings > Preferences > Mail (or Tools > Preferences > Mail). Check if an external email client program is configured in the Mail section, rather than using Opera's built-in email handler.
    Affected if An external email client application is set as the default handler in Opera's mail settings.

The system is affected only if Opera Browser is installed with a vulnerable version (9.23 or earlier, or the listed older versions) AND external newsgroup or email client integration is enabled in Opera's configuration.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 9.23
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Opera to version 9.24 or later; if upgrading is not feasible, disable the external newsgroup/email client integration feature in Opera's configuration settings.

Recommended fix High confidence

Opera 9.24 or later

  1. Verify current Opera browser version by navigating to Help > About Opera
  2. Download Opera 9.24 or later from the official Opera website or your system's software repository
  3. Close all instances of the Opera browser
  4. Install the updated Opera browser version (9.24 or later) using your system's package manager or the installer
  5. Restart Opera and verify the new version is installed under Help > About Opera
  6. If using an external e-mail or newsgroup client configured in Opera, ensure it is from a trusted source as this was the attack vector for this vulnerability

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Opera Browser Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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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-2007-5541 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