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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2010-3179

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-10-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.5.13 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
Stack-based buffer overflow in the text-rendering functionality in Mozilla Firefox before 3.5.14 and 3.6.x before 3.6.11, Thunderbird before 3.0.9 and 3.1.x before 3.1.5, and SeaMonkey before 2.0.9 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) via a long argument to the document.write method.

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

Stack-based buffer overflow in the text-rendering functionality of Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey. Remote attackers can achieve code execution or cause memory corruption/crash by passing an excessively long argument to the document.write() method.

MitigationUpgrade affected Mozilla products to Firefox 3.5.14+/3.6.11+, Thunderbird 3.0.9+/3.1.5+, or SeaMonkey 2.0.9+, or apply available vendor patches.

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= 3.6.9= 3.6.10<= 3.5.13= 1.0= 1.0.1
SeamonkeyApplication
Affected:<= 2.0.8= 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:<= 3.0.8= 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
    Check which Mozilla browser or suite is installed on the system. Look for Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey applications in the program directories or application list.
    Affected if Any of these three products (Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey) are installed
  2. Determine the Firefox version
    For Firefox: Open the browser, go to Help > About Firefox, or navigate to about:support, or inspect the version file in the program directory. Note the exact version number displayed.
    Affected if The version is 1.0, 1.0.1, any version from 3.5.x through 3.5.13, or any of these 3.6.x versions: 3.6, 3.6.2, 3.6.3, 3.6.4, 3.6.6, 3.6.7, 3.6.8, 3.6.9, or 3.6.10
  3. Determine the Thunderbird version
    For Thunderbird: Open the application, go to Help > About Thunderbird, or check the version file in the installation directory. Note the exact version number displayed.
    Affected if The version is any from 0.1 through 0.8, or any version from 3.0.x up to and including 3.0.8
  4. Determine the SeaMonkey version
    For SeaMonkey: Open the application, go to Help > About SeaMonkey, or locate the version file in the program directory. Record the exact version number shown.
    Affected if The version is any from 1.0 through 1.0.9, version 1.1, or any version from 2.0.x up to and including 2.0.8

The environment is affected if any installed Mozilla product (Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey) matches one of the specific vulnerable version numbers or ranges listed in the CVE details.

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 3.5.13
Interim mitigation

Upgrade affected Mozilla products to Firefox 3.5.14+/3.6.11+, Thunderbird 3.0.9+/3.1.5+, or SeaMonkey 2.0.9+, or apply available vendor patches.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 3.6.11 (or 3.5.14), Thunderbird 3.0.9/3.1.5, or SeaMonkey 2.0.9

  1. Identify which Mozilla product (Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey) is affected and note its exact version
  2. For Firefox 3.6.x versions: upgrade to Firefox 3.6.11 or later, or migrate to Firefox 3.5.14
  3. For Firefox 3.5.x versions: upgrade to Firefox 3.5.14 or later
  4. For Thunderbird 3.0.x versions: upgrade to Thunderbird 3.0.9 or later
  5. For Thunderbird 3.1.x versions: upgrade to Thunderbird 3.1.5 or later
  6. For SeaMonkey 1.x versions: upgrade to SeaMonkey 2.0.9 or later
  7. For SeaMonkey 2.0.x versions: upgrade to SeaMonkey 2.0.9 or later
  8. After upgrading, verify the application launches without errors and test that document.write functionality works normally
Caveat These are legacy 2010-era versions; consider migrating to modern supported releases as these older branches are end-of-life

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

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,980
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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-2010-3179 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