dbcve.org
FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2009-3073

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-09-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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 the JavaScript engine in Mozilla Firefox 3.5.x before 3.5.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code 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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox 3.5.x JavaScript engine allows remote attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via unknown attack vectors affecting the JS engine's memory handling.

MitigationUpgrade Firefox to version 3.5.3 or later, or migrate to a currently supported browser version to address the critical JavaScript engine flaw.

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:= 3.5= 3.5.1= 3.5.2

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. Check if Firefox is installed
    On Windows, look in Program Files for Mozilla Firefox folder or run 'where firefox' in cmd. On Linux, run 'which firefox' or check /usr/bin/firefox. On macOS, check /Applications/Firefox.app
    Affected if Firefox is not installed on the system
  2. Determine installed Firefox version
    Run 'firefox --version' in terminal, or open Firefox and navigate to Help > About Firefox to view the exact version number
    Affected if Unable to determine Firefox version or version shown is 3.5, 3.5.1, or 3.5.2
  3. Compare version against affected range
    Compare the installed version string to the affected versions: 3.5, 3.5.1, and 3.5.2
    Affected if Installed version is exactly 3.5, 3.5.1, or 3.5.2

The system is affected only if the installed Firefox version is exactly 3.5, 3.5.1, or 3.5.2, as the vulnerability exists only in these specific versions of the JavaScript engine

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Firefox to version 3.5.3 or later, or migrate to a currently supported browser version to address the critical JavaScript engine flaw.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 3.5.3 or later (or migrate to a supported modern Firefox release)

  1. 1. Close all instances of Mozilla Firefox
  2. 2. Download Firefox 3.5.3 or later from the official Mozilla website (www.mozilla.org)
  3. 3. Run the Firefox installer and complete the installation process
  4. 4. Restart Firefox to apply the update
  5. 5. Verify the installed version by navigating to Help > About Firefox
Caveat Firefox 3.5.x is extremely outdated (2009); modern web content may not render correctly; consider migrating to a supported Firefox release (ESR or current)

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

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-3073 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2009-3073 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