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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2012-1971

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-08-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 14.0 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
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in the browser engine in Mozilla Firefox before 15.0, Thunderbird before 15.0, and SeaMonkey before 2.12 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via vectors related to garbage collection after certain MethodJIT execution, and unknown other vectors.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in the JavaScript engine (MethodJIT) of Mozilla Firefox before 15.0, Thunderbird before 15.0, and SeaMonkey before 2.12 allows remote attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute arbitrary code via vectors related to improper garbage collection after MethodJIT execution.

MitigationUpgrade affected Mozilla products to Firefox 15.0+, Thunderbird 15.0+, or SeaMonkey 2.12+ to obtain the patched browser engine with corrected garbage collection handling.

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:<= 14.0= 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= 1.4.1= 1.5
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:<= 14.0= 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:<= 2.11= 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

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 installed Mozilla product
    Open the application and go to Help > About (Firefox/Thunderbird/SeaMonkey) to see the product name and version, or run the executable with --version flag from command line
    Affected if The product is Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey with a version matching the affected ranges (<=14.0, 1.0-1.5 series, 2.0-2.11 series, or 1.0-1.5.0.1 for Thunderbird)
  2. Verify MethodJIT JavaScript engine is enabled
    In the address bar, type about:config and press Enter. Search for the preference javascript.options.methodjit. Check if the value is set to true (enabled)
    Affected if javascript.options.methodjit is set to true, enabling the vulnerable MethodJIT compilation engine
  3. Confirm the version is within affected range for Firefox
    If using Firefox, compare the installed version number (from Help > About) against the affected list: versions <=14.0 or any of 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, 1.4.1, or 1.5
    Affected if Firefox version is 14.0 or lower, or matches any of the specific older version numbers listed
  4. Confirm the version is within affected range for Thunderbird
    If using Thunderbird, compare the installed version against the affected list: versions <=14.0 or any of 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, or 1.5.0.1
    Affected if Thunderbird version is 14.0 or lower, or matches any of the specific older version numbers listed
  5. Confirm the version is within affected range for SeaMonkey
    If using SeaMonkey, compare the installed version against the affected list: versions <=2.11 or any of 2.0 through 2.0.10
    Affected if SeaMonkey version is 2.11 or lower, or matches any of the 2.0.x version numbers listed

The environment is affected if running Firefox <=14.0, Thunderbird <=14.0, or SeaMonkey <=2.11 (or any specific older versions listed) with the MethodJIT JavaScript compilation engine enabled (javascript.options.methodjit = true).

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 14.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade affected Mozilla products to Firefox 15.0+, Thunderbird 15.0+, or SeaMonkey 2.12+ to obtain the patched browser engine with corrected garbage collection handling.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 15.0, Thunderbird 15.0, or SeaMonkey 2.12

  1. Check current version of Mozilla product (Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey) via Help > About
  2. Close all instances of the browser or email client
  3. Download Firefox 15.0, Thunderbird 15.0, or SeaMonkey 2.12 from the official Mozilla archive (archive.mozilla.org) or your system's package manager
  4. Install the updated version via system package manager (e.g., zypper for openSUSE, apt for Ubuntu) or by running the downloaded installer
  5. Restart the application and verify the new version under Help > About
Caveat Upgrading from Firefox/Thunderbird 14.x to 15.0 may cause some older add-ons to be incompatible; verify add-on compatibility before production use

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

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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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-2012-1971 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