FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2014-1539
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 · uneditedMozilla Firefox before 30.0 and Thunderbird through 24.6 on OS X do not ensure visibility of the cursor after interaction with a Flash object and a DIV element, which makes it easier for remote attackers to conduct clickjacking attacks via JavaScript code that produces a fake cursor image.
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 confidenceThis is a cursor spoofing vulnerability in Firefox <30.0 and Thunderbird <=24.6 on OS X where interaction with specific elements (Flash object + DIV) can cause the real system cursor to become hidden while a fake cursor image is displayed. This enables clickjacking attacks where users believe they are clicking one location but are actually clicking a different, potentially malicious element.
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
<= 29.0.1<= 24.6= 24.0= 24.0.1= 24.1= 24.1.1= 24.2= 24.3= 24.4= 24.5CVSS 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Mozilla browserCheck if Mozilla Firefox or Thunderbird is installed on the system. Open the browser and look at the application name in the title bar or the application menu.Affected if Either Firefox or Thunderbird is installed
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Check Firefox versionIn Firefox, click Help > About Firefox (or Firefox > About Firefox on OS X). Note the version number displayed.Affected if Firefox version is 29.0.1 or lower (any version <= 29.0.1)
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Check Thunderbird versionIn Thunderbird, click Help > About Thunderbird (or Thunderbird > About Thunderbird on OS X). Note the version number displayed.Affected if Thunderbird version is 24.6 or lower, specifically 24.0, 24.0.1, 24.1, 24.1.1, 24.2, 24.3, 24.4, or 24.5
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Verify operating system is OS XCheck the operating system of the machine where the browser is running. This can be done via System Preferences > About or the command 'uname -a' in Terminal.Affected if The operating system is OS X (the vulnerability only affects OS X)
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Confirm Flash plugin statusIn the browser, navigate to about:plugins or check Firefox/Thunderbird Add-ons > Plugins to see if the Flash plugin is enabled/present.Affected if Flash plugin is enabled (the vulnerability requires interaction with a Flash object)
A user is affected if they are running Firefox <=29.0.1 or Thunderbird <=24.5 on OS X with the Flash plugin enabled, where malicious web content can exploit the cursor spoofing to perform clickjacking attacks.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade affected browsers to Firefox 30.0+ or Thunderbird 24.6+. For web application defense-in-depth, implement X-Frame-Options DENY/SAMEORIGIN headers and frame-breaking JavaScript to prevent clickjacking regardless of browser cursor behavior.
Fix this in Firefox
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-1539 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-1539 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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
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