FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2015-4501
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 · uneditedMultiple unspecified vulnerabilities in the browser engine in Mozilla Firefox before 41.0 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors.
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 · moderate confidenceMultiple memory corruption vulnerabilities in Mozilla Firefox's Gecko browser engine (versions before 41.0) allow remote attackers to trigger application crashes (denial of service) or potentially achieve arbitrary code execution via crafted web content with unknown vectors.
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
<= 40.0.3CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/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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Verify Mozilla Firefox is installedCheck for Firefox installation by looking for the executable. On Windows, check Program Files or Program Files (x86) for Mozilla Firefox folder. On Linux, run 'which firefox' or check /usr/bin/firefox. On macOS, check /Applications/Firefox.appAffected if Firefox is not installed on the system
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Determine installed Firefox versionOpen Firefox, click the menu button (three horizontal lines), select Help, then About Firefox. The version number will be displayed in the window that opens. Alternatively, from command line run 'firefox --version' on Linux/macOS or check the executable properties on WindowsAffected if Unable to determine Firefox version from the system
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Compare installed version against affected rangeReview the version number obtained from the previous step. The affected range is any version of Mozilla Firefox less than 41.0, specifically versions 40.0.3 and below are explicitly listed as affectedAffected if Installed version is 40.0.3 or any version lower than 41.0 (such as 40.0.2, 40.0, 39.x, 38.x, etc.)
If Firefox is installed and its version is 40.0.3 or lower, the system is vulnerable to this CVE. If Firefox is not installed or version is 41.0 or higher, the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability.
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 41.0 or later to obtain the vendor patch addressing these memory corruption vulnerabilities.
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-2015-4501 — 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-2015-4501 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data