FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2012-3984
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 · uneditedMozilla Firefox before 16.0, Thunderbird before 16.0, and SeaMonkey before 2.13 do not properly handle navigation away from a web page that has a SELECT element's menu active, which allows remote attackers to spoof page content via vectors involving absolute positioning and scrolling.
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 confidenceThis is a UI spoofing vulnerability in Mozilla products where the browser fails to properly handle navigation away from a page when a SELECT element's dropdown menu is active. Attackers can exploit this by using absolute positioning and scrolling to overlay fake content on what appears to be a legitimate page.
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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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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Identify the installed Mozilla Firefox versionIn Firefox, go to Help > About Firefox, or run: firefox --version or apt list --installed 2>/dev/null | grep firefoxAffected if The version displayed is less than 16.0 (e.g., 15.0.1, 14.0.1, etc.)
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Identify the installed Mozilla Thunderbird versionIn Thunderbird, go to Help > About Thunderbird, or run: thunderbird --version or apt list --installed 2>/dev/null | grep thunderbirdAffected if The version displayed is less than 16.0
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Identify the installed SeaMonkey versionIn SeaMonkey, go to Help > About SeaMonkey, or run: seamonkey --versionAffected if The version displayed is less than 2.13
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Check installed packages on Ubuntu LinuxRun: dpkg -l | grep -E 'firefox|thunderbird|seamonkey' to list installed Mozilla package versionsAffected if Any listed Mozilla product version is older than the affected versions (Firefox/Thunderbird < 16.0, SeaMonkey < 2.13)
You are affected if any installed Mozilla product (Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey) has a version number lower than the safe threshold (16.0 for Firefox/Thunderbird, 2.13 for SeaMonkey).
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.
From vendor data2.1316.0
Upgrade affected Mozilla products to version 16.0 or later (Firefox, Thunderbird) or SeaMonkey 2.13 or later to resolve this vulnerability.
Fix this in Firefox
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-3984 — 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-2012-3984 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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- 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
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