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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2010-3168

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-09-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.5.11 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
Mozilla Firefox before 3.5.12 and 3.6.x before 3.6.9, Thunderbird before 3.0.7 and 3.1.x before 3.1.3, and SeaMonkey before 2.0.7 do not properly restrict the role of property changes in triggering XUL tree removal, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (deleted memory access and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code by setting unspecified properties.

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

This is a memory corruption vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey where improper restriction of property changes in XUL tree elements allows remote attackers to trigger use-after-free conditions. By setting unspecified properties on XUL trees, attackers can cause deleted memory access leading to application crashes or potentially execute arbitrary code.

MitigationUpgrade to Firefox 3.5.12/3.6.9, Thunderbird 3.0.7/3.1.3, SeaMonkey 2.0.7 or later. This is a client-side code execution vulnerability that requires applying the vendor patches to all affected installations.

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:= 3.6= 3.6.2= 3.6.3= 3.6.4= 3.6.6= 3.6.7= 3.6.8<= 3.5.11= 1.0= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.3
SeamonkeyApplication
Affected:<= 2.0.6= 1.0= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.3= 1.0.4= 1.0.5= 1.0.6= 1.0.7= 1.0.8= 1.0.9= 1.1
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:<= 3.0.6= 0.1= 0.2= 0.3= 0.4= 0.5= 0.6= 0.7= 0.7.1= 0.7.2= 0.7.3= 0.8

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. Identify the installed Mozilla product
    Open the application and go to Help > About, or run: Firefox -v, Thunderbird -v, or seamonkey -v from command line
    Affected if The product is Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey
  2. Determine the Firefox version
    Check Help > About Mozilla Firefox, or run: firefox -v
    Affected if Version is 3.6.x (3.6, 3.6.2, 3.6.3, 3.6.4, 3.6.6, 3.6.7, 3.6.8), 3.5.x through 3.5.11, or 1.0.x (1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3)
  3. Determine the SeaMonkey version
    Check Help > About SeaMonkey, or run: seamonkey -v
    Affected if Version is 2.0.6 or lower, or any 1.0.x through 1.1
  4. Determine the Thunderbird version
    Check Help > About Mozilla Thunderbird, or run: thunderbird -v
    Affected if Version is 3.0.6 or lower, or any 0.x version (0.1 through 0.8)
  5. Check for XUL tree element usage in extensions or custom profiles
    Examine any installed add-ons or extensions for XUL markup using tree elements, or review custom XUL files in the profile directory for <tree> tags
    Affected if The environment loads custom XUL content with tree elements that can be manipulated via JavaScript property changes

The system is affected if it runs any Firefox 3.5.x through 3.5.11, Firefox 3.6.x, Firefox 1.0.x, SeaMonkey 2.0.6 or lower, SeaMonkey 1.0.x through 1.1, Thunderbird 3.0.6 or lower, or Thunderbird 0.x versions, especially if XUL-based extensions or custom XUL with tree elements are in use.

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 3.5.11
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Firefox 3.5.12/3.6.9, Thunderbird 3.0.7/3.1.3, SeaMonkey 2.0.7 or later. This is a client-side code execution vulnerability that requires applying the vendor patches to all affected installations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 3.6.9+ / Firefox ESR or current release; Thunderbird 3.0.7+ / 3.1.3+; SeaMonkey 2.0.7+

  1. Upgrade Firefox 3.6.x to version 3.6.9 or later (or migrate to a supported Firefox ESR/current release)
  2. Upgrade Thunderbird 3.0.x to version 3.0.7 or later, or Thunderbird 3.1.x to version 3.1.3 or later
  3. Upgrade SeaMonkey 1.x/2.x to version 2.0.7 or later
  4. After upgrading, verify the application starts without errors
Caveat These are very old versions; upgrading to modern supported releases is recommended for security support

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

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2010-3168 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