FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2012-1942
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 · uneditedThe Mozilla Updater and Windows Updater Service in Mozilla Firefox 12.0, Thunderbird 12.0, and SeaMonkey 2.9 on Windows allow local users to gain privileges by loading a DLL file in a privileged context.
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 confidenceThe Mozilla Updater and Windows Updater Service in Firefox 12.0, Thunderbird 12.0, and SeaMonkey 2.9 on Windows contains a DLL planting vulnerability where the updater loads DLL files from locations controllable by local users, allowing privilege escalation to the context in which the updater runs.
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
= 12.0= 2.9= 12.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Mozilla product and versionCheck the installed version of Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey. On Windows, this is typically found in the application's About dialog or by examining the program's properties in Add/Remove Programs or the application's manifest file.Affected if The installed version is exactly Firefox 12.0, Thunderbird 12.0, or SeaMonkey 2.9.
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Locate the Mozilla Updater executableSearch for the updater.exe file in the Mozilla application directory (typically in the installation folder under the 'updater' subdirectory). Common paths include C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\updater.exe or similar locations within the product's installation folder.Affected if The updater.exe file exists in the product's installation directory.
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Check for writable directories in the updater pathExamine file system permissions on the directory containing the updater.exe and its subdirectories. Determine if standard users can create or write files to any location within the updater's directory tree.Affected if A local user account can write to the directory from which the updater loads DLL files, allowing placement of malicious DLLs.
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Verify the Mozilla Updater Windows service statusOpen Services management console (services.msc) and look for entries related to Mozilla Updater or the application's updater service. Check the service binary path and startup type.Affected if The Mozilla Updater service is installed and configured to run, particularly with elevated privileges.
A user is affected if they have Firefox 12.0, Thunderbird 12.0, or SeaMonkey 2.9 installed with the updater present and the service enabled, and if the updater directory permissions allow standard users to write DLL files that the updater will load.
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 dataUpdate to Firefox 13.0+, Thunderbird 13.0+, or SeaMonkey 2.10+ which contain the fixed updater, or remove/modify the Mozilla Updater service if not needed.
Fix this in Firefox
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-1942 — 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-2012-1942 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