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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2012-3970

HIGH · 10.0 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
Use-after-free vulnerability in the nsTArray_base::Length 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 vectors involving movement of a requiredFeatures attribute from one SVG document to another.

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's nsTArray_base::Length function allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause heap memory corruption by moving a requiredFeatures attribute from one SVG document to another. The vulnerability affects Firefox (pre-15.0), Firefox ESR 10.x (pre-10.0.7), Thunderbird (pre-15.0), Thunderbird ESR 10.x (pre-10.0.7), and SeaMonkey (pre-2.12).

MitigationUpgrade affected Mozilla products to version 15.0 or later (Firefox/Thunderbird) or 10.0.7 or later for ESR branches. Organizations should inventory all installed instances and deploy patches through their patch management infrastructure.

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:= 10.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2= 10.0.3= 10.0.4= 10.0.5= 10.0.6<= 14.0= 1.0= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.3
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
Thunderbird EsrApplication
Affected:= 10.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2= 10.0.3= 10.0.4= 10.0.5= 10.0.6

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. Identify installed Mozilla product
    Check the application name: for Firefox go to Help > About Firefox; for Thunderbird go to Help > About Thunderbird; for SeaMonkey go to Help > About SeaMonkey. Record the exact version number displayed.
    Affected if The product is Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, or Thunderbird ESR with a version lower than 15.0 (or lower than 10.0.7 for ESR 10.x branches)
  2. Verify Firefox version against affected range
    If using Firefox, compare your installed version against: 10.0 through 10.0.6, or any version from 1.0 to 1.0.3, or any version from 1.5 to 14.0. Versions 15.0 and later are not affected.
    Affected if Firefox version is 10.0.x, 1.0.x through 1.0.3, or any version from 1.5 through 14.x
  3. Verify Thunderbird version against affected range
    If using Thunderbird, compare your installed version against: any version from 1.0 to 1.0.7, 1.5, 1.5.0.1, or any version from 2.0 through 14.0. Versions 15.0 and later are not affected.
    Affected if Thunderbird version is 1.0.x through 1.0.7, 1.5, 1.5.0.1, or any version from 2.0 through 14.x
  4. Verify SeaMonkey version against affected range
    If using SeaMonkey, compare your installed version against: 2.0 through 2.0.10, or any version from 2.1 through 2.11. Versions 2.12 and later are not affected.
    Affected if SeaMonkey version is 2.0.x through 2.0.10, or 2.1 through 2.11
  5. Verify ESR branch versions
    If using Firefox ESR or Thunderbird ESR, check if version is 10.0 through 10.0.6. ESR versions 10.0.7 and later are not affected.
    Affected if Firefox ESR or Thunderbird ESR version is 10.0.x where x is 0 through 6

You are affected if you have Firefox (any version from 1.0 to 14.x or 10.0.x), Thunderbird (any version from 1.0 to 14.x), SeaMonkey (2.0 through 2.11), or Thunderbird ESR/Firefox ESR (10.0 through 10.0.6) installed.

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 version 15.0 or later (Firefox/Thunderbird) or 10.0.7 or later for ESR branches. Organizations should inventory all installed instances and deploy patches through their patch management infrastructure.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 15.0+, Firefox ESR 10.0.7+, Thunderbird 15.0+, Thunderbird ESR 10.0.7+, SeaMonkey 2.12+

  1. 1. Identify the installed Mozilla product (Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey) and current version
  2. 2. For Firefox: Upgrade to version 15.0 or later (or ESR 10.0.7+ if using extended support)
  3. 3. For Thunderbird: Upgrade to version 15.0 or later (or ESR 10.0.7+ if using extended support)
  4. 4. For SeaMonkey: Upgrade to version 2.12 or later
  5. 5. Restart the application after upgrading
  6. 6. Verify the installed version matches the fixed release

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
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2012-3970 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