FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2014-1542
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in the Speex resampler in the Web Audio subsystem in Mozilla Firefox before 30.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via vectors related to a crafted AudioBuffer channel count and sample rate.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in the Speex resampler (audio processing library) within Mozilla Firefox's Web Audio subsystem. The flaw is triggered when processing a crafted AudioBuffer with specific channel count and sample rate values, allowing remote attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code via heap corruption.
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= 13.1= 12.3= 11.3CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Firefox versionRun 'firefox --version' from command line, or in Firefox go to Help > About Firefox, or check the package manager (rpm -qa | grep firefox on RHEL/SUSE, dpkg -l | grep firefox on Debian)Affected if The version is 29.0.1 or lower (any version <= 29.0.1)
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Verify Web Audio API is enabledIn Firefox address bar, type 'about:config' and press Enter. Search for 'media.webaudio.enabled' in the filter box. Confirm the boolean value is set to trueAffected if Web Audio API is enabled (media.webaudio.enabled = true) - this is required for the vulnerable code path to be reachable
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Check if running affected OS with bundled FirefoxOn OpenSUSE 12.3 or 13.1, or Oracle Solaris 11.3, check if Firefox was installed via the system package manager: 'rpm -qa | grep -i firefox' on SUSE/SolarisAffected if Firefox package is installed from the system repositories on the listed vulnerable OS versions
You are affected if Firefox version is 29.0.1 or lower AND Web Audio API processing is enabled in your environment.
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 Mozilla Firefox to version 30.0 or later, which contains the patched Speex resampler. In constrained environments, consider disabling Web Audio API processing until the upgrade can be applied.
Fix this in Firefox
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-1542 — 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-2014-1542 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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- 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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