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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2008-5017

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-11-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.1.13 / 2.0.0.18 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
Integer overflow in xpcom/io/nsEscape.cpp in the browser engine in Mozilla Firefox 3.x before 3.0.4, Firefox 2.x before 2.0.0.18, Thunderbird 2.x before 2.0.0.18, and SeaMonkey 1.x before 1.1.13 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) 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 · high confidence

Integer overflow vulnerability in xpcom/io/nsEscape.cpp in Mozilla browser engine products (Firefox 2.x/3.x, Thunderbird 2.x, SeaMonkey 1.x). The overflow occurs during string escaping operations in XPCOM I/O processing, allowing remote attackers to trigger a denial of service via crash through unknown vectors.

MitigationApply vendor patches by updating to Firefox 3.0.4+/2.0.0.18+, Thunderbird 2.0.0.18+, or SeaMonkey 1.1.13+ to address the integer overflow in nsEscape.cpp.

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:>= 2.0, < 2.0.0.18>= 3.0, < 3.0.4
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 4.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 6.06= 7.10= 8.04= 8.10
SeamonkeyApplication
Affected:>= 1.0, < 1.1.13
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:>= 2.0, < 2.0.0.18

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
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/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. Identify installed Mozilla product
    Check if Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey is installed by looking for the application in /usr/bin/ or using package managers (dpkg -l, rpm -qa, or about:version in the browser)
    Affected if Any of these three products are present on the system
  2. Determine Firefox version
    Run 'firefox -v' from command line, or in Firefox go to Help > About Firefox, or check package version with 'dpkg -l firefox' or 'rpm -qi firefox'
    Affected if Version is 2.0.x (any subversion below 2.0.0.18) or 3.0.x (any subversion below 3.0.4)
  3. Determine Thunderbird version
    Run 'thunderbird -v' from command line, or in Thunderbird go to Help > About Thunderbird, or check package version with 'dpkg -l thunderbird' or 'rpm -qi thunderbird'
    Affected if Version is 2.0.x (any subversion below 2.0.0.18)
  4. Determine SeaMonkey version
    Run 'seamonkey -v' from command line, or check package version with 'dpkg -l seamonkey' or 'rpm -qi seamonkey'
    Affected if Version is 1.0.x through 1.1.x (any version below 1.1.13)

The system is affected if Firefox versions 2.0.0.x through 2.0.0.17, 3.0.x through 3.0.3, Thunderbird versions 2.0.0.x through 2.0.0.17, or SeaMonkey versions 1.0.x through 1.1.12 are installed.

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 1.1.13 / 2.0.0.18 / 3.0.4 or later
Fixed in 1.1.132.0.0.183.0.4
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patches by updating to Firefox 3.0.4+/2.0.0.18+, Thunderbird 2.0.0.18+, or SeaMonkey 1.1.13+ to address the integer overflow in nsEscape.cpp.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 2.0.0.18, Firefox 3.0.4, Thunderbird 2.0.0.18, or SeaMonkey 1.1.13 (or later) depending on product

  1. Identify the Mozilla product (Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey) and version currently installed
  2. For Firefox 2.x users: Upgrade to Firefox 2.0.0.18 or later
  3. For Firefox 3.x users: Upgrade to Firefox 3.0.4 or later
  4. For Thunderbird 2.x users: Upgrade to Thunderbird 2.0.0.18 or later
  5. For SeaMonkey 1.x users: Upgrade to SeaMonkey 1.1.13 or later
  6. On Debian Linux 4.0: Apply security updates via apt-get update && apt-get upgrade or install the corresponding Debian security advisory package
  7. On Ubuntu Linux (6.06, 7.10, 8.04, 8.10): Apply updates via apt-get update && apt-get upgrade or use the Update Manager
  8. After upgrade, verify the new version by checking About in the application menu
Caveat Some legacy browser extensions or themes may be incompatible with newer versions; test critical extensions before production deployment

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

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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-2008-5017 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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