FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2008-5015
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 · uneditedMozilla Firefox 3.x before 3.0.4 assigns chrome privileges to a file: URI when it is accessed in the same tab from a chrome or privileged about: page, which makes it easier for user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript with chrome privileges via malicious code in a file that has already been saved on the local system.
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 confidenceMozilla Firefox 3.x before 3.0.4 improperly assigns chrome privileges to file: URIs when accessed in the same tab from a chrome or privileged about: page. This allows user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript with elevated chrome privileges by tricking a user into opening a malicious locally-saved file after visiting a privileged page.
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
<= 3.0.3= 3.0= 3.0.1= 3.0.2CVSS 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
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Firefox versionOpen Firefox, click Help > About Mozilla Firefox (or go to about:support) to view the version numberAffected if Version is 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, or 3.0.3 (any version <= 3.0.3)
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Identify recent browser activityReview browser history or ask user if they have recently visited privileged about: pages (about:config, about:plugins, about:mozilla)Affected if User has visited privileged about: pages in the same tab before opening local files
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Verify local file access patternDetermine if the user opens local HTML/JS files (file:// URIs) in tabs that were previously used for privileged about: pagesAffected if Local files are opened in tabs that previously displayed chrome or privileged about: pages
A user is affected if running Firefox version 3.0 through 3.0.3 AND has accessed file: URIs in the same tab after visiting privileged about: pages, allowing arbitrary JavaScript with elevated chrome privileges.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpdate Firefox to version 3.0.4 or later. Users should avoid opening untrusted local files after visiting privileged about: pages, and organizations should deploy the Firefox security update across managed endpoints.
Fix this in Firefox
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-5015 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sources- www.mozilla.org
- lists.opensuse.org
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- sunsolve.sun.com
- ubuntu.com
- www.mandriva.com
- www.redhat.com
- www.securityfocus.com
- www.securitytracker.com
- www.us-cert.gov
- www.vupen.com
- www.vupen.com
- bugzilla.mozilla.org
- oval.cisecurity.org
- www.redhat.com
- nvd.nist.gov
Practitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-5015 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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