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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2012-1972

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-08-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.7 / 15.0 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
Use-after-free vulnerability in the nsHTMLEditor::CollapseAdjacentTextNodes function in Mozilla Firefox before 15.0, Firefox ESR 10.x before 10.0.7, Thunderbird before 15.0, Thunderbird ESR 10.x before 10.0.7, and SeaMonkey before 2.12 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (heap memory corruption) via unspecified 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

Use-after-free vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors. The flaw exists in the nsHTMLEditor::CollapseAdjacentTextNodes function, causing heap memory corruption when handling HTML text nodes.

MitigationUpdate affected Mozilla products to Firefox 15.0+, Firefox ESR 10.0.7+, Thunderbird 15.0+, Thunderbird ESR 10.0.7+, or SeaMonkey 2.12+ to patch the vulnerability.

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:< 15.0>= 10.0, < 10.0.7
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 5.0= 6.0
Enterprise Linux EusOperating system
Affected:= 6.3
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 5.0= 6.0
Enterprise Linux Server EusOperating system
Affected:= 6.3
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 5.0= 6.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.04= 11.04= 11.10= 12.04
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0

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 if Mozilla Firefox is installed
    On Linux: rpm -qa | grep -i firefox or dpkg -l | grep -i firefox. On Windows: Check Program Files for Mozilla Firefox folder or check Add/Remove Programs. On macOS: Check /Applications for Firefox.app
    Affected if Firefox is installed with a version below 15.0, or between 10.0 and 10.0.6 inclusive
  2. Check if Mozilla Thunderbird is installed
    On Linux: rpm -qa | grep -i thunderbird or dpkg -l | grep -i thunderbird. On Windows: Check Program Files for Mozilla Thunderbird folder. On macOS: Check /Applications for Thunderbird.app
    Affected if Thunderbird is installed with a version below 15.0, or between 10.0 and 10.0.6 inclusive (if applicable to the installed version)
  3. Check if SeaMonkey is installed
    On Linux: rpm -qa | grep -i seamonkey or dpkg -l | grep -i seamonkey. On Windows: Check Program Files for SeaMonkey folder. On macOS: Check /Applications for SeaMonkey folder
    Affected if SeaMonkey is installed with a version below 2.12 (the patched version)
  4. Verify the exact installed version number
    Run the application with --version flag, or check Help > About in the application menu, or examine the package metadata for the precise version string
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: < 15.0, OR >= 10.0 but < 10.0.7, OR between 10.0.0 and 10.0.6 inclusive

A user is affected if they have Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey installed with a version below 15.0 (or below 10.0.7 for the 10.x ESR branch), as these versions contain the vulnerable nsHTMLEditor::CollapseAdjacentTextNodes function.

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 10.0.7 / 15.0 or later
Fixed in 10.0.715.0
Interim mitigation

Update affected Mozilla products to Firefox 15.0+, Firefox ESR 10.0.7+, Thunderbird 15.0+, Thunderbird ESR 10.0.7+, or SeaMonkey 2.12+ to patch the vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 15.0 (or Firefox ESR 10.0.7 for ESR users); Thunderbird 15.0 (or Thunderbird ESR 10.0.7); SeaMonkey 2.12

  1. Identify which Mozilla product is affected (Firefox, Firefox ESR, Thunderbird, Thunderbird ESR, or SeaMonkey) by checking the installed version
  2. For Debian/Ubuntu systems: Run 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade' to fetch and install the fixed packages
  3. For RHEL/CentOS systems: Run 'yum update' to fetch and install the fixed packages
  4. Alternatively, download and install the fixed version directly: Firefox 15.0, Firefox ESR 10.0.7, Thunderbird 15.0, Thunderbird ESR 10.0.7, or SeaMonkey 2.12 from the official Mozilla website
  5. Restart the browser/application after upgrading
  6. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release
Caveat Upgrading from Firefox 10 ESR to Firefox 15 introduces a new major version which may break existing browser extensions or plugins; test critical web applications before deploying

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

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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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-2012-1972 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