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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2009-0733

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-03-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.9.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit 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 stack-based buffer overflows in the ReadSetOfCurves function in LittleCMS (aka lcms or liblcms) before 1.18beta2, as used in Firefox 3.1beta, OpenJDK, and GIMP, allow context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted image file associated with a large integer value for the (1) input or (2) output channel, related to the ReadLUT_A2B and ReadLUT_B2A functions.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-787

The program writes past the bounds of a buffer, overwriting adjacent memory an attacker can turn to their advantage. Crafted input can overwrite control data and redirect execution. Remediation is validating every index and length before a write, plus modern memory-safety mitigations.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds write class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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:= 3.1
OpenjdkApplication
Affected:<= 7
GimpApplication
Affected:< 2.9.2
Little CmsApplication
Affected:<= 1.17

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

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 2.9.2 or later
Fixed in 2.9.2
Recommended fix High confidence

LittleCMS 1.18beta2 or later (Firefox 3.5+, GIMP 2.9.2+, OpenJDK 8+)

  1. 1. Identify all applications and libraries that link to LittleCMS (lcms or liblcms) in your environment
  2. 2. For systems with LittleCMS installed directly: upgrade LittleCMS to version 1.18beta2 or later
  3. 3. For Firefox 3.1beta users: upgrade to a stable Firefox release that includes the LittleCMS fix (Firefox 3.5 or later)
  4. 4. For GIMP users: upgrade to version 2.9.2 or later which contains the fixed LittleCMS library
  5. 5. For OpenJDK users: upgrade to OpenJDK 8 or later which includes the patched LittleCMS
  6. 6. Rebuild or reinstall all applications that statically link against LittleCMS after upgrading the library
  7. 7. Verify the installed LittleCMS version by running 'lcms-config --version' or checking the library file directly
Caveat Upgrading OpenJDK from version 7 to 8 may require code changes for removed deprecated APIs; Firefox 3.5+ requires dropping support for Firefox 3.1beta specific features

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the upgrade done

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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-2009-0733 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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