dbcve.org
FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2014-8643

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-01-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 34.0.5 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Mozilla Firefox before 35.0 on Windows allows remote attackers to bypass the Gecko Media Plugin (GMP) sandbox protection mechanism by leveraging access to the GMP process, as demonstrated by the OpenH264 plugin's process.

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

Mozilla Firefox before version 35.0 on Windows contains a sandbox bypass vulnerability in the Gecko Media Plugin (GMP) subsystem. Attackers with access to the GMP process (such as the OpenH264 plugin's process) can circumvent the sandbox protection mechanism, potentially allowing execution of arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

MitigationUpdate Mozilla Firefox to version 35.0 or later on all Windows systems. This addresses the sandbox bypass in the Gecko Media Plugin by implementing proper isolation between the GMP process and privileged system resources.

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:<= 34.0.5
OpensuseOperating system
Affected:= 13.1= 13.2

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
None
Integrity
Complete
Availability
None

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

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

  1. Check installed Firefox version
    Open Firefox, go to Help > About Firefox, or run 'firefox --version' from command line
    Affected if Version is 34.0.5 or lower on Windows systems
  2. Confirm operating system is Windows
    Check system OS - this vulnerability affects only Windows systems
    Affected if Running Windows with vulnerable Firefox version
  3. Verify GMP (Gecko Media Plugin) is enabled
    In Firefox, check Add-ons > Plugins section for Gecko Media Plugin entries (such as OpenH264)
    Affected if GMP plugins are present and enabled on a vulnerable Firefox Windows installation
  4. Inspect running GMP processes
    Open Windows Task Manager or run 'tasklist' command and look for processes related to GMP (such as gmpopenh264.exe or similar GMP host processes)
    Affected if GMP process is running on a vulnerable Firefox Windows version

User is affected if running Firefox version 34.0.5 or lower on Windows with GMP plugins enabled and the GMP process active

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 34.0.5
Interim mitigation

Update Mozilla Firefox to version 35.0 or later on all Windows systems. This addresses the sandbox bypass in the Gecko Media Plugin by implementing proper isolation between the GMP process and privileged system resources.

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-8643 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2014-8643 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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