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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2013-1685

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-06-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 21.0 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 nsIDocument::GetRootElement function in Mozilla Firefox before 22.0, Firefox ESR 17.x before 17.0.7, Thunderbird before 17.0.7, and Thunderbird ESR 17.x before 17.0.7 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (heap memory corruption) via a crafted web site.

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 and Thunderbird's nsIDocument::GetRootElement function allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause heap memory corruption via a crafted website. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management when accessing the root element of a document.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches by upgrading to Firefox 22.0 or later, Firefox ESR 17.0.7 or later, Thunderbird 17.0.7 or later, or Thunderbird ESR 17.0.7 or later. Prioritize patching given the high CVSS score and remote code execution capability.

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:<= 21.0= 19.0= 19.0.1= 19.0.2= 20.0= 20.0.1= 17.0= 17.0.1= 17.0.2= 17.0.3= 17.0.4= 17.0.5
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:<= 17.0.6= 17.0= 17.0.1= 17.0.2= 17.0.3= 17.0.4= 17.0.5
Thunderbird EsrApplication
Affected:= 17.0= 17.0.1= 17.0.2= 17.0.3= 17.0.4= 17.0.5= 17.0.6

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, go to Help > About Firefox, or navigate to about:support in the address bar to view the version number
    Affected if The version is 21.0 or lower, or matches 19.0, 19.0.1, 19.0.2, 20.0, 20.0.1, 17.0, 17.0.1, 17.0.2, 17.0.3, 17.0.4, or 17.0.5
  2. Check Thunderbird version
    Open Thunderbird, go to Help > About Thunderbird to view the version number
    Affected if The version is 17.0.6 or lower, or matches 17.0, 17.0.1, 17.0.2, 17.0.3, 17.0.4, or 17.0.5
  3. Check Thunderbird ESR version
    Open Thunderbird, go to Help > About Thunderbird to view the version number and confirm it is the ESR release channel
    Affected if The version matches 17.0, 17.0.1, 17.0.2, 17.0.3, 17.0.4, 17.0.5, or 17.0.6 (ESR channel)

The environment is affected if Firefox is version 21.0 or below (specific affected versions listed) or if Thunderbird/Thunderbird ESR is version 17.0.6 or below (specific affected versions listed).

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 a release after 21.0
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches by upgrading to Firefox 22.0 or later, Firefox ESR 17.0.7 or later, Thunderbird 17.0.7 or later, or Thunderbird ESR 17.0.7 or later. Prioritize patching given the high CVSS score and remote code execution capability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 22.0+ (or Firefox ESR 17.0.7+); Thunderbird 17.0.7+ (or Thunderbird ESR 17.0.7+)

  1. Check current installed version of Firefox or Thunderbird (Help > About or via command line: firefox --version / thunderbird --version)
  2. For Firefox: Upgrade to version 22.0 or later (or Firefox ESR 17.0.7 or later for enterprise environments)
  3. For Thunderbird: Upgrade to version 17.0.7 or later (or Thunderbird ESR 17.0.7 or later for enterprise environments)
  4. Download from official Mozilla repository (https://www.mozilla.org/) or use system's package manager
  5. Restart the application after upgrade
  6. Enable automatic updates (Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Update > Check for updates automatically)
Caveat Firefox 22.0 includes significant changes to add-ons APIs and may break some legacy add-ons; ESR 17.0.7 is recommended for organizations needing stability

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
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.

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-2013-1685 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