FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2012-3983
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 · uneditedMultiple unspecified vulnerabilities in the browser engine in Mozilla Firefox before 16.0, Thunderbird before 16.0, 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 confidenceMultiple critical memory corruption vulnerabilities existed in the Gecko browser engine used by Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey. These unspecified flaws allowed remote attackers to trigger memory corruption leading to application crashes or potentially achieve arbitrary code execution via unknown attack vectors.
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
< 16.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 10.04= 11.04= 11.10= 12.04< 2.13< 16.0= 10= 11= 10= 11CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Firefox versionRun 'firefox --version' or look in Help > About FirefoxAffected if Version is below 16.0
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Check Thunderbird versionRun 'thunderbird --version' or look in Help > About ThunderbirdAffected if Version is below 16.0
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Check SeaMonkey versionRun 'seamonkey --version' or look in Help > About SeaMonkeyAffected if Version is below 2.13
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Check installed Mozilla packages on UbuntuRun 'dpkg -l | grep -i firefox' or 'dpkg -l | grep -i thunderbird' to list installed Mozilla packages and their versionsAffected if Any Firefox or Thunderbird package version is below the fixed releases for your Ubuntu version
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Check installed Mozilla packages on SUSERun 'rpm -qa | grep -i firefox' or 'rpm -qa | grep -i thunderbird' to list installed Mozilla packages and their versionsAffected if Any Firefox or Thunderbird package version is below the fixed releases for your SUSE version
If Firefox < 16.0, Thunderbird < 16.0, or SeaMonkey < 2.13 is installed and used, the environment is vulnerable to memory corruption in the Gecko engine.
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.
dbcve · scoped2.1316.0
Upgrade affected Mozilla products to version 16.0 or later (Firefox/Thunderbird) or SeaMonkey 2.13 or later to patch the browser engine vulnerabilities.
Firefox 16.0+, Thunderbird 16.0+, or Seamonkey 2.13+
- Backup any important bookmarks, passwords, or browser data before updating
- Upgrade Firefox to version 16.0 or later via the application's built-in update mechanism or from mozilla.org
- If using Thunderbird, upgrade to version 16.0 or later
- If using Seamonkey, upgrade to version 2.13 or later
- After upgrading, verify the installed version by checking About in the application menu
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Firefox
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-3983 — 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-2012-3983 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