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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2012-1941

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-06-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.9 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
Heap-based buffer overflow in the nsHTMLReflowState::CalculateHypotheticalBox function in Mozilla Firefox 4.x through 12.0, Firefox ESR 10.x before 10.0.5, Thunderbird 5.0 through 12.0, Thunderbird ESR 10.x before 10.0.5, and SeaMonkey before 2.10 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by resizing a window displaying absolutely positioned and relatively positioned elements in nested columns.

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

Heap-based buffer overflow in Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey's nsHTMLReflowState::CalculateHypotheticalBox function. The vulnerability is triggered when a user resizes a window containing absolutely positioned and relatively positioned elements within nested columns, leading to memory corruption that can be exploited for arbitrary code execution.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches by updating affected installations to Firefox 13.0+, Firefox ESR 10.0.5+, Thunderbird 13.0+, Thunderbird ESR 10.0.5+, or SeaMonkey 2.10+. Alternatively, disable or avoid viewing untrusted content in nested column layouts until patches are applied.

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:= 4.0= 4.0.1= 5.0= 5.0.1= 6.0= 6.0.1= 6.0.2= 7.0= 7.0.1= 8.0= 8.0.1= 9.0
SeamonkeyApplication
Affected:<= 2.9= 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:= 5.0= 6.0= 6.0.1= 6.0.2= 7.0= 7.0.1= 8.0= 9.0= 9.0.1= 10.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2
Thunderbird EsrApplication
Affected:= 10.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2= 10.0.3= 10.0.4

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. Check Firefox version
    Open Firefox, go to Help > About Firefox, or run 'firefox --version' from command line. Compare the displayed version against affected versions: 4.0, 4.0.1, 5.0, 5.0.1, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2, 7.0, 7.0.1, 8.0, 8.0.1, 9.0
    Affected if Installed Firefox version matches any of the listed affected versions.
  2. Check Thunderbird version
    Open Thunderbird, go to Help > About Thunderbird, or run 'thunderbird --version' from command line. Compare the displayed version against affected versions: 5.0, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2, 7.0, 7.0.1, 8.0, 9.0, 9.0.1, 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.0.2
    Affected if Installed Thunderbird version matches any of the listed affected versions.
  3. Check Thunderbird ESR version
    Open Thunderbird, go to Help > About Thunderbird. Compare the displayed version against affected ESR versions: 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.0.2, 10.0.3, 10.0.4
    Affected if Installed Thunderbird ESR version matches any of the listed affected versions.
  4. Check SeaMonkey version
    Open SeaMonkey, go to Help > About SeaMonkey, or check the executable file properties. Compare the displayed version against affected versions: 1.0 through 1.1 series, and versions 2.0 through 2.9
    Affected if Installed SeaMonkey version is 1.0.x, 1.1, or 2.0 through 2.9.

The environment is affected if any installed Mozilla product (Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey) matches the specific version numbers listed as affected for that product.

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 2.9
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches by updating affected installations to Firefox 13.0+, Firefox ESR 10.0.5+, Thunderbird 13.0+, Thunderbird ESR 10.0.5+, or SeaMonkey 2.10+. Alternatively, disable or avoid viewing untrusted content in nested column layouts until patches are applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Firefox 12.0+/ESR 10.0.5+, Thunderbird 12.0+/ESR 10.0.5+, or SeaMonkey 2.10+ (or latest current versions)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Mozilla product (Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey) and its exact version using Help > About
  2. 2. For Firefox 4.x/5.x users: Upgrade to Firefox 12.0 or later (recommended: latest Firefox ESR or current release)
  3. 3. For Thunderbird 5.x/6.x users: Upgrade to Thunderbird 12.0 or later (recommended: latest Thunderbird ESR or current release)
  4. 4. For Thunderbird ESR 10.x users: Upgrade to Thunderbird ESR 10.0.5 or later
  5. 5. For SeaMonkey 1.x/2.x users: Upgrade to SeaMonkey 2.10 or later
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the version via Help > About to confirm the fix is applied
  7. 7. Restart the application to complete the update
Caveat Upgrading from older Firefox/Thunderbird releases may involve UI changes and potential compatibility issues with older extensions; test extensions before production deployment

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

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2012-1941 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