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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2013-1697

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
The XrayWrapper implementation 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 does not properly restrict use of DefaultValue for method calls, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code with chrome privileges via a crafted web site that triggers use of a user-defined (1) toString or (2) valueOf method.

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

The XrayWrapper implementation in Firefox and Thunderbird fails to properly restrict DefaultValue for method calls, allowing a malicious webpage to invoke user-defined toString or valueOf methods. This enables remote attackers to achieve arbitrary JavaScript code execution with chrome (elevated) privileges by tricking the XrayWrapper into exposing privileged objects to untrusted content.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied updates: upgrade to Firefox 22.0+, Firefox ESR 17.0.7+, Thunderbird 17.0.7+, or Thunderbird ESR 17.0.7+ to address this privilege escalation 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:<= 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. Identify installed Mozilla product
    Check for Firefox or Thunderbird installation by running 'firefox --version' or 'thunderbird --version' from command line, or by accessing Help > About in the application menu
    Affected if Either Firefox or Thunderbird is installed on the system
  2. Determine Firefox version
    Run 'firefox --version' or open Firefox and navigate to Help > About Firefox to view the exact version number
    Affected if Version is 21.0 or lower, or matches one of these affected versions: 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
  3. Determine Thunderbird version
    Run 'thunderbird --version' or open Thunderbird and navigate to Help > About Thunderbird to view the exact version number
    Affected if Version is 17.0.6 or lower, or matches one of these affected versions: 17.0, 17.0.1, 17.0.2, 17.0.3, 17.0.4, 17.0.5, or 17.0.6 (including ESR variants)

The system is affected if Firefox version is 21.0 or lower (including specific versions 17.0.x through 20.0.1 and 19.x), or if Thunderbird version is 17.0.6 or lower, as these versions contain the vulnerable XrayWrapper implementation that allows privilege escalation via DefaultValue handling.

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 updates: upgrade to Firefox 22.0+, Firefox ESR 17.0.7+, Thunderbird 17.0.7+, or Thunderbird ESR 17.0.7+ to address this privilege escalation vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 22.0+, Firefox ESR 17.0.7+, Thunderbird 17.0.7+, Thunderbird ESR 17.0.7+

  1. 1. Check the currently installed Firefox or Thunderbird version by navigating to Help > About (or using the menu)
  2. 2. For Firefox users: Upgrade to Firefox 22.0 or later from the official Mozilla website (https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/) or through your system's package manager
  3. 3. For Firefox ESR users: Upgrade to Firefox ESR 17.0.7 or later from the Mozilla ESR downloads page
  4. 4. For Thunderbird users: Upgrade to Thunderbird 17.0.7 or later from the official Mozilla Thunderbird website
  5. 5. For Thunderbird ESR users: Upgrade to Thunderbird ESR 17.0.7 or later from the Mozilla ESR downloads page
  6. 6. After upgrading, verify the new version by checking Help > About to confirm the version number meets the fixed release
  7. 7. Ensure any third-party plugins/extensions are compatible with the new version
Caveat Major version upgrades (e.g., from Firefox 21 to 22) may introduce UI changes or deprecate older APIs; verify critical add-ons are compatible before upgrading in production environments

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
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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-2013-1697 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