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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2013-5598

HIGH · 8.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-10-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 24.0 or later.
See remediation →
92/100
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
PDF.js in Mozilla Firefox before 25.0 and Firefox ESR 24.x before 24.1 does not properly handle the appending of an IFRAME element, which allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files or execute arbitrary JavaScript code with chrome privileges by using this element within an embedded PDF object.

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

PDF.js in Firefox before 25.0 (and ESR before 24.1) improperly handles IFRAME element appending within embedded PDF objects, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript with chrome privileges or read arbitrary files.

MitigationUpgrade Firefox to version 25.0 or later (or ESR 24.1+) to obtain the patched PDF.js version.

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:= 24.0= 24.0.1= 24.0.2<= 24.0= 19.0= 19.0.1= 19.0.2= 20.0= 20.0.1= 21.0= 22.0= 23.0

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
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check your Firefox version
    Open Firefox, click the menu button (three horizontal lines), select Help, then About Firefox. The version number is displayed on this page.
    Affected if The version is 19.0, 19.0.1, 19.0.2, 20.0, 20.0.1, 21.0, 22.0, 23.0, 24.0, 24.0.1, or 24.0.2.
  2. Verify the PDF.js viewer is enabled
    In Firefox address bar, type about:config and press Enter. Search for the preference named pdfjs.disabled. Check its value - if it is false, PDF.js is enabled.
    Affected if pdfjs.disabled is set to false (the default), meaning the built-in PDF viewer is active.
  3. Confirm PDF viewing capability exists
    Try opening any PDF file in Firefox, or visit a webpage containing an embedded PDF object. Firefox will use PDF.js to render it if the viewer is enabled.
    Affected if PDF files render successfully in the browser using the internal PDF viewer.

You are affected if your Firefox version is 19.0 through 24.0.2 and the built-in PDF.js viewer is enabled (the default setting), as the vulnerability triggers when viewing a specially crafted PDF or webpage with embedded PDF content.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 24.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Firefox to version 25.0 or later (or ESR 24.1+) to obtain the patched PDF.js version.

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,480
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,568.

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-2013-5598 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