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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2011-2984

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2011-08-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.6.19 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 3.6.20, SeaMonkey 2.x, Thunderbird 3.x before 3.1.12, and possibly other products does not properly handle the dropping of a tab element, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code with chrome privileges by establishing a content area and registering for drop events.

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

A flaw in Mozilla Firefox before 3.6.20, SeaMonkey 2.x, and Thunderbird 3.x before 3.1.12 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code with chrome (privileged) privileges by establishing a malicious content area and registering for drop events on tab elements. This is a privilege escalation vulnerability where web content can escape the sandbox.

MitigationUpgrade to Firefox 3.6.20 or later, Thunderbird 3.1.12 or later, or SeaMonkey 2.x to the patched version. Organizations should remove deprecated Mozilla products from their environment.

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:<= 3.6.19= 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= 1.5= 1.5.0.1
SeamonkeyApplication
Affected:= 2.0= 2.0.1= 2.0.2= 2.0.3= 2.0.4= 2.0.5= 2.0.6= 2.0.7= 2.0.8= 2.0.9= 2.0.10= 2.0.11
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:= 3.0= 3.0.1= 3.0.2= 3.0.3= 3.0.4= 3.0.5= 3.0.6= 3.0.7= 3.0.8= 3.0.9= 3.0.10= 3.0.11

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 Firefox version
    Open Firefox and navigate to Help > About Mozilla Firefox, or enter 'about:Firefox' in the address bar. Alternatively, check the file properties of firefox.exe in the installation directory.
    Affected if The version displayed is 1.0.x, 1.5.x, or 3.6.19 or earlier
  2. Check SeaMonkey version
    Open SeaMonkey and navigate to Help > About SeaMonkey. Alternatively, check the file properties of seamonkey.exe in the installation directory.
    Affected if The version displayed is 2.0 through 2.0.11 inclusive
  3. Check Thunderbird version
    Open Thunderbird and navigate to Help > About Thunderbird. Alternatively, check the file properties of thunderbird.exe in the installation directory.
    Affected if The version displayed is 3.0 through 3.0.11 inclusive
  4. Check Windows registry for installed Mozilla products
    Open Registry Editor and check HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\CurrentVersion (or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\SeaMonkey\CurrentVersion, or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Thunderbird\CurrentVersion) for the installed version string.
    Affected if Any of these registry keys show a version that matches the affected ranges above

You are affected if any Mozilla Firefox 1.0.x, 1.5.x, or 3.6.19 and earlier; SeaMonkey 2.0 through 2.0.11; or Thunderbird 3.0 through 3.0.11 is installed on the system.

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 3.6.19
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Firefox 3.6.20 or later, Thunderbird 3.1.12 or later, or SeaMonkey 2.x to the patched version. Organizations should remove deprecated Mozilla products from their environment.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 3.6.20+, SeaMonkey 2.0.4+, Thunderbird 3.1.12+ (or migrate to current supported versions)

  1. Upgrade Firefox to version 3.6.20 or later, or preferably to a supported modern version (Firefox ESR or current release)
  2. Upgrade SeaMonkey to version 2.0.4 or later if continuing to use SeaMonkey
  3. Upgrade Thunderbird to version 3.1.12 or later, or preferably to a supported modern version
  4. After upgrading, verify the version by checking 'Help > About' in the application menu
  5. Ensure automatic updates are enabled to receive future security patches
Caveat Firefox 3.6 and Thunderbird 3.x are end-of-life and no longer receive security updates; migrating to current versions is strongly recommended as older branches have known compatibility issues with modern web content

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

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
3.0 hours of engineering $750
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2011-2984 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