FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2011-3653
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 · uneditedMozilla Firefox before 8.0 and Thunderbird before 8.0 on Mac OS X do not properly interact with the GPU memory behavior of a certain driver for Intel integrated GPUs, which allows remote attackers to bypass the Same Origin Policy and read image data via vectors related to WebGL textures.
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 confidenceThis vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird before version 8.0 on Mac OS X with Intel integrated GPUs allows remote attackers to bypass the Same Origin Policy and read image data from other origins via WebGL textures. The issue stems from improper interaction between the browser and Intel GPU driver memory behavior.
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
<= 7.0.1= 0.1= 0.2= 0.3= 0.4= 0.5= 0.6= 0.6.1= 0.7= 0.7.1= 0.8= 0.9<= 7.0.1= 0.1= 0.2= 0.3= 0.4= 0.5= 0.6= 0.7= 0.7.1= 0.7.2= 0.7.3= 0.8CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Firefox versionOpen Firefox, click Help > About Firefox (or navigate to about:support) to view the installed version numberAffected if Version is 7.0.1 or earlier (including 0.x releases)
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Check Thunderbird versionOpen Thunderbird, click Help > About Thunderbird to view the installed version numberAffected if Version is 7.0.1 or earlier (including 0.x releases)
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Verify Mac OS X with Intel integrated GPUConfirm the system is running Mac OS X and has an Intel integrated graphics processor (check System Profiler > Graphics/Displays)Affected if Running on Mac OS X with Intel integrated GPU
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Check if WebGL is enabledIn Firefox, type about:config in the address bar, search for webgl.enabled-for-all-sites and check the value. In Thunderbird (if WebGL settings are accessible), check the same or similar setting.Affected if WebGL is enabled (webgl.enabled-for-all-sites is true)
A user is affected if they run Firefox 7.0.1 or earlier (or Thunderbird 7.0.1 or earlier) on Mac OS X with an Intel integrated GPU, with WebGL enabled in the browser.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataUpgrade to Firefox 8.0 or later and Thunderbird 8.0 or later. Alternatively, disable WebGL in browser settings as a workaround until patching is feasible, though this may affect web application functionality.
Fix this in Firefox
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-3653 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-3653 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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