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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2012-3982

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-10-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.8 / 16.0 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 16.0, Firefox ESR 10.x before 10.0.8, Thunderbird before 16.0, Thunderbird ESR 10.x before 10.0.8, and SeaMonkey before 2.13 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via unknown 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

Multiple memory corruption vulnerabilities existed in the Gecko browser engine used by Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey. These unspecified flaws allowed remote attackers to corrupt memory through malformed web content, potentially leading to application crash (denial of service) or arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade affected products to Firefox 16.0+, Thunderbird 16.0+, SeaMonkey 2.13+, or Firefox/Thunderbird ESR 10.0.8+. Deploy via patch management and verify browser functionality post-update.

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:< 10.0.8< 16.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.04= 11.04= 11.10= 12.04
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 WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 5.0= 6.0
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Thunderbird EsrApplication
Affected:< 10.0.8

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 browser or email client
    Check for Firefox or Thunderbird binaries. On Linux: which firefox thunderbird. On Windows: check Program Files. On Mac: check /Applications.
    Affected if Neither Firefox nor Thunderbird is installed, then not affected.
  2. Get Firefox version
    Run firefox --version or open Firefox, go to Help > About Firefox. For Linux packages, also check: dpkg -l firefox or rpm -q firefox.
    Affected if Version is less than 10.0.8 OR version is 10.0.8 through 15.x (less than 16.0).
  3. Get Thunderbird version
    Run thunderbird --version or open Thunderbird, go to Help > About Thunderbird. For Linux packages: dpkg -l thunderbird or rpm -q thunderbird.
    Affected if Version is less than 10.0.8 (Thunderbird ESR versions only listed as affected).
  4. Check Linux distribution version (if applicable)
    On Ubuntu: lsb_release -a. On RHEL: cat /etc/redhat-release. On Debian: cat /etc/debian_version.
    Affected if Running Ubuntu 10.04, 11.04, 11.10, or 12.04; RHEL 5.0, 6.0, 6.3; Debian 6.0 - and using bundled Mozilla packages from that distribution.

You are affected if you run Firefox versions below 10.0.8 or between 10.0.8 and 15.x, or Thunderbird ESR below 10.0.8, or use Mozilla packages from the listed Ubuntu/RHEL/Debian distributions.

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 10.0.8 / 16.0 or later
Fixed in 10.0.816.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade affected products to Firefox 16.0+, Thunderbird 16.0+, SeaMonkey 2.13+, or Firefox/Thunderbird ESR 10.0.8+. Deploy via patch management and verify browser functionality post-update.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 16.0 or Firefox ESR 10.0.8; Thunderbird 16.0 or Thunderbird ESR 10.0.8; SeaMonkey 2.13 (or latest stable releases)

  1. Identify the currently installed Mozilla product (Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey) and its exact version
  2. For Firefox ESR 10.x users: upgrade to Firefox ESR 10.0.8 or higher
  3. For Firefox users on versions prior to 16.0: upgrade to Firefox 16.0 or higher (recommended: latest ESR or stable release)
  4. For Thunderbird ESR 10.x users: upgrade to Thunderbird ESR 10.0.8 or higher
  5. For Thunderbird users on versions prior to 16.0: upgrade to Thunderbird 16.0 or higher (recommended: latest ESR or stable release)
  6. For SeaMonkey users: upgrade to SeaMonkey 2.13 or higher
  7. On Linux systems, use the system package manager to update (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get upgrade for Debian/Ubuntu, or yum update for RHEL/CentOS)
  8. Restart the application after updating
Caveat Firefox 16.0 introduced the URL bar search functionality; some legacy extensions may be incompatible with major version upgrades; always test in non-production environment first

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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2012-3982 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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