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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2012-3990

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
Use-after-free vulnerability in the IME State Manager implementation 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 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, related to the nsIContent::GetNameSpaceID function.

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, SeaMonkey's IME State Manager implementation allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors related to nsConten::GetNameSpaceID function, causing memory corruption and potential code execution.

MitigationUpdate vulnerable products to Firefox 16.0+, Thunderbird 16.0+, SeaMonkey 2.13+, or Firefox/Thunderbird ESR 10.0.8+ to patch the use-after-free memory corruption 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:< 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. Check Firefox version
    Open Firefox, click Help > About Firefox, or run 'firefox --version' from command line
    Affected if Version is below 10.0.8 or between 10.0.8 and 16.0 (exclusive)
  2. Check Thunderbird version
    Open Thunderbird, click Help > About Thunderbird, or run 'thunderbird --version' from command line
    Affected if Version is below 10.0.8 (ESR version)
  3. Check SeaMonkey version
    Open SeaMonkey, click Help > About SeaMonkey, or run 'seamonkey --version' from command line
    Affected if Version is below 2.13 (if SeaMonkey is used)
  4. Confirm IME State Manager is in use
    Check if Asian input methods (Japanese IME, Chinese IME, Korean IME) are installed or enabled in the system - the vulnerability affects the IME State Manager component
    Affected if Asian language input methods are active or installed on the system
  5. Verify running on affected Linux distribution
    Run 'lsb_release -a' or check /etc/lsb-release for Ubuntu; 'cat /etc/redhat-release' for RHEL; 'cat /etc/debian_version' for Debian
    Affected if Running Ubuntu 10.04, 11.04, 11.10, or 12.04; RHEL 5.x, 6.x, or 6.3 EUS; Debian 6.0 with unpatched Mozilla products

User is affected if running Firefox < 10.0.8 or < 16.0, Thunderbird ESR < 10.0.8, or SeaMonkey < 2.13, with Asian input methods enabled on an affected Linux distribution.

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

Update vulnerable products to Firefox 16.0+, Thunderbird 16.0+, SeaMonkey 2.13+, or Firefox/Thunderbird ESR 10.0.8+ to patch the use-after-free memory corruption vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 16.0 or later (or Firefox ESR 10.0.8); Thunderbird 16.0 or later (or Thunderbird ESR 10.0.8); SeaMonkey 2.13 or later

  1. Check current Firefox version by navigating to Help > About Firefox (or typing 'about:support' in the address bar)
  2. Check current Thunderbird version by navigating to Help > About Thunderbird
  3. For Firefox: Download and install version 16.0 or later from mozilla.org, or for ESR users install version 10.0.8 from mozilla.org
  4. For Thunderbird: Download and install version 16.0 or later from mozilla.org, or for ESR users install version 10.0.8 from mozilla.org
  5. For SeaMonkey: Upgrade to version 2.13 or later
  6. Alternatively on Linux systems, update via package manager: 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade firefox thunderbird' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'yum update firefox thunderbird' (RHEL/CentOS)
  7. Restart the application after upgrade
  8. Verify the installed version meets the fixed release requirement
Caveat Minor: Some legacy extensions may be incompatible with newer major versions; test critical extensions before deploying

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
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

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-2012-3990 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