FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2015-0798
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 · uneditedThe Reader mode feature in Mozilla Firefox before 37.0.1 on Android, and Desktop Firefox pre-release, does not properly handle privileged URLs, which makes it easier for remote attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code with chrome privileges by leveraging the ability to bypass the Same Origin Policy.
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 confidenceFirefox Reader Mode before 37.0.1 fails to properly sanitize and handle privileged chrome:// URLs, allowing Same Origin Policy bypass that enables arbitrary JavaScript execution with chrome privileges.
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
<= 37.0= 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
- 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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Determine installed Firefox versionOpen Firefox, go to Help > About Firefox, or run 'firefox --version' from command line. Alternatively, check the application bundle version at /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/info.plist (macOS) or in the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\CurrentVersionAffected if The reported version is 37.0 or earlier (e.g., 37.0, 36.0.x, 35.x, etc.)
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Confirm Firefox build includes Reader ModeVerify that the Reader Mode feature is available in the installed Firefox build. In the address bar of Firefox, type 'about:buildconfig' to review compiled-in features, or simply attempt to access Reader Mode by pressing Ctrl+Alt+R (or View > Reader Mode in the menu)Affected if Reader Mode is present and the version check from step 1 shows 37.0 or earlier
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Check for Oracle Solaris bundled Firefox (if applicable)If the environment is Oracle Solaris 11.3, check the Firefox version bundled with the operating system. Locate the Firefox binary (typically at /usr/firefox/firefox or /usr/bin/firefox) and run it with --version, or query the package database with 'pkginfo | grep -i firefox'Affected if Running on Solaris 11.3 with Firefox version 37.0 or earlier installed via the OS package system
You are affected if Firefox version 37.0 or earlier is installed and Reader Mode feature is available in your environment, allowing potential Same Origin Policy bypass via malicious chrome:// URLs.
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 Firefox to version 37.0.1 or later to obtain the patched browser. This is a client-side browser vulnerability requiring browser updates rather than application-level fixes.
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-2015-0798 — 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-2015-0798 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data