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Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2008-4063

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-09-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.0.1 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
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in Mozilla Firefox 3.x before 3.0.2 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via vectors related to the layout engine and (1) a zero value of the "this" variable in the nsContentList::Item function; (2) interaction of the indic IME extension, a Hindi language selection, and the "g" character; and (3) interaction of the nsFrameList::SortByContentOrder function with a certain insufficient protection of inline frames.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox 3.x layout engine allowing remote code execution via three vectors: null pointer dereference in nsContentList::Item when 'this' variable is zero, improper handling of indic IME with Hindi language selection and 'g' character, and insufficient protection of inline frames in nsFrameList::SortByContentOrder. Exploitation leads to denial of service or arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade Mozilla Firefox to version 3.0.2 or later to address these layout engine memory corruption vulnerabilities.

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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 6.06= 7.04= 7.10= 8.04
FirefoxWeb browser
Affected:<= 3.0.1= 3.0

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. Verify Mozilla Firefox is installed
    Check for Firefox executable in typical locations: on Linux/Unix run 'which firefox' or 'ls /usr/bin/firefox'; on Windows check C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
    Affected if Firefox executable exists on the system
  2. Determine installed Firefox version
    Run 'firefox --version' on Linux/Unix, or on Windows right-click firefox.exe and view Properties > Details for version information, or access about:license page in the browser
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or command returns error
  3. Compare version against affected range
    Review the version output - the affected versions are Firefox 3.0 and any 3.0.x version up to and including 3.0.1
    Affected if Installed version is 3.0 or 3.0.1 (or 3.0.0)
  4. Check Ubuntu version if running Linux
    Run 'lsb_release -a' or view /etc/lsb-release to identify the Ubuntu release
    Affected if Ubuntu version is 6.06, 7.04, 7.10, or 8.04 AND Firefox 3.x is installed

User is affected if Mozilla Firefox version 3.0 or 3.0.1 (or any 3.0.x up to 3.0.1) is installed, particularly on Ubuntu 6.06, 7.04, 7.10, or 8.04.

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 3.0.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Mozilla Firefox to version 3.0.2 or later to address these layout engine memory corruption vulnerabilities.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 3.0.2 or later (for Ubuntu systems, use the distribution's packaged Firefox update)

  1. Update your Ubuntu system package lists by running: sudo apt-get update
  2. Upgrade Firefox to the fixed version by running: sudo apt-get upgrade firefox or sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
  3. Alternatively, install the security update for Firefox by running: sudo apt-get install firefox-3.0 (or appropriate package for your version)
  4. Restart Firefox after the upgrade completes
  5. Verify the Firefox version by checking Help > About Mozilla Firefox - it should show 3.0.2 or higher
Caveat Older Firefox extensions and plugins may not be compatible with Firefox 3.0.2; some legacy features or custom configurations may need to be reviewed after upgrade

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

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2008-4063 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