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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2012-4183

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 DOMSVGTests::GetRequiredFeatures function 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 or cause a denial of service (heap memory corruption) via unspecified 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

Use-after-free vulnerability in the DOMSVGTests::GetRequiredFeatures function in Mozilla products allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause heap memory corruption via unspecified vectors in SVG DOM processing.

MitigationUpgrade to Firefox 16.0+, Firefox ESR 10.0.8+, Thunderbird 16.0+, Thunderbird ESR 10.0.8+, or SeaMonkey 2.13+ to patch the 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
Thunderbird EsrApplication
Affected:< 10.0.8
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:< 16.0

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 Firefox installation and version
    On Linux, run 'firefox --version' or check the package manager (dpkg -l firefox | grep -i firefox or rpm -qa firefox). On Windows, check Help > About Firefox. On macOS, run 'firefox --version' or open Firefox and check Firefox > About Firefox.
    Affected if The installed version is earlier than 10.0.8 or between 10.0.8 and 15.x (any version less than 16.0)
  2. Identify Thunderbird installation and version
    On Linux, run 'thunderbird --version' or check the package manager (dpkg -l thunderbird or rpm -qa thunderbird). On Windows, check Help > About Thunderbird. On macOS, run 'thunderbird --version' or open Thunderbird and check Thunderbird > About Thunderbird.
    Affected if Thunderbird is installed and the version is earlier than 10.0.8 (ESR) or earlier than 16.0 (non-ESR)
  3. Confirm the vulnerability scope
    This vulnerability is in the DOMSVGTests::GetRequiredFeatures function used during SVG DOM processing. SVG processing is a built-in feature of Firefox and Thunderbird with no user-controllable on/off switch.
    Affected if The browser or email client processes SVG content (which occurs by default when viewing SVG images or SVG-based web content)

A system is affected if Firefox Thunderbird or SeaMonkey is installed with a version lower than 10.0.8 or any version from 10.0.8 through 15.x (less than 16.0), since the use-after-free flaw exists in the built-in SVG DOM processing component.

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 to Firefox 16.0+, Firefox ESR 10.0.8+, Thunderbird 16.0+, Thunderbird ESR 10.0.8+, or SeaMonkey 2.13+ to patch the vulnerability.

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+

  1. 1. Close all instances of the affected Mozilla product (Firefox, Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey)
  2. 2. For Firefox: Download Firefox 16.0 or later from the official Mozilla website (mozilla.org/firefox) or use your system's package manager
  3. 3. For Thunderbird: Download Thunderbird 16.0 or later from mozilla.org/thunderbird or use your system's package manager
  4. 4. For SeaMonkey: Download SeaMonkey 2.13 or later from mozilla.org/seamonkey or use your system's package manager
  5. 5. On Linux systems using package managers: Run 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade' for Ubuntu/Debian, or 'sudo yum update' for RHEL/CentOS
  6. 6. Alternatively for RHEL systems: Run 'sudo yum update firefox thunderbird' to update only the Mozilla products
  7. 7. Restart the application after update completes
  8. 8. Verify the version by checking Help > About (Firefox/Thunderbird) or Help > About SeaMonkey to confirm the installed version is at or above the fixed release
Caveat Minor add-on compatibility issues may occur when upgrading to newer major versions; some legacy extensions may not function on the updated release

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
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

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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-2012-4183 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