CVE-2015-2733
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 · uneditedUse-after-free vulnerability in the CanonicalizeXPCOMParticipant function in Mozilla Firefox before 39.0 and Firefox ESR 31.x before 31.8 and 38.x before 38.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via vectors involving attachment of an XMLHttpRequest object to a dedicated worker.
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 confidenceUse-after-free vulnerability in Firefox's CanonicalizeXPCOMParticipant function allows remote code execution through malicious XMLHttpRequest objects attached to dedicated WebWorkers, causing memory corruption after object release.
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<= 38.1.0= 31.0= 31.1.0= 31.1.1= 31.3.0= 31.5.1= 31.5.2= 31.5.3= 38.0= 31.1= 31.2= 31.3= 31.4= 31.5= 31.6.0= 31.7.0= 11.3= 11= 12.0= 12.0CVSS 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
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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 check 'About Firefox' from the application menu, or query the system package manager (dpkg -l firefox, rpm -q firefox, pkginfo -l firefox)Affected if Version matches any of: 38.1.0, 31.0, 31.1.0, 31.1.1, 31.3.0, 31.5.1, 31.5.2, 31.5.3, 38.0 (or falls within <= 38.1.0 range for unlisted 31.x/38.x versions)
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Identify installed Firefox ESR versionRun 'firefox --version' and check the ESR designation, or query system packages (dpkg -l firefox-esr, rpm -q firefox-esr)Affected if Version matches any of: 31.1, 31.2, 31.3, 31.4, 31.5, 31.6.0, 31.7.0 (or falls within the 31.x ESR range before 31.8.0)
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Check for Firefox on Oracle Solaris 11.3Query the Solaris package database: 'pkginfo -l firefox' or 'pkg list firefox'Affected if Firefox package is installed on Solaris 11.3 (any version present indicates the vulnerable bundled browser)
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Check for Firefox on SUSE Linux EnterpriseQuery SUSE packages: 'rpm -q firefox' (SLED) or 'rpm -q firefox' (SLES)Affected if Firefox package is installed on SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11/12.0 or Server 12.0
A system is affected if any installed Firefox or Firefox ESR version matches the specific vulnerable versions listed (31.x through 31.7.0 or 38.0/38.1.0), or if Firefox is present on Solaris 11.3 or SUSE Linux Enterprise 11/12.0 systems.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade Firefox to version 39.0 or later (or ESR 31.8+/38.1+) across all affected endpoints; deploy via enterprise patch management tooling.
Firefox 39.0 or later; Firefox ESR 31.8 or later; Firefox ESR 38.1 or later
- Upgrade Firefox to version 39.0 or later
- If using Firefox ESR 31.x, upgrade to Firefox ESR 31.8 or later
- If using Firefox ESR 38.x, upgrade to Firefox ESR 38.1 or later
- Restart the browser after upgrading
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-2733 — 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 sources- www.mozilla.org
- lists.opensuse.org
- lists.opensuse.org
- www.oracle.com
- www.oracle.com
- bugzilla.mozilla.org
- lists.opensuse.org
- lists.opensuse.org
- lists.opensuse.org
- rhn.redhat.com
- www.securityfocus.com
- www.securitytracker.com
- www.securitytracker.com
- www.ubuntu.com
- www.ubuntu.com
- security.gentoo.org
- nvd.nist.gov
Practitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-2733 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