FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2016-1940
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 · uneditedMozilla Firefox before 44.0 on Android allows remote attackers to spoof the address bar via a data: URL that is mishandled during (1) shortcut opening or (2) BOOKMARK intent processing.
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 confidenceAddress bar spoofing vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox for Android versions prior to 44.0. When a data: URL is mishandled during shortcut opening or BOOKMARK intent processing, the browser displays a spoofed URL in the address bar while rendering attacker-controlled content, allowing phishing attacks that appear to originate from trusted domains.
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
<= 43.0.4all versionsCVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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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Check if Firefox for Android is installedOn the Android device, go to Settings > Apps and look for Mozilla Firefox, or use ADB: 'adb shell pm list packages | grep mozilla'. The package name is typically 'org.mozilla.firefox'.Affected if Firefox for Android is not installed on the device - not affected by this specific CVE
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Get the Firefox for Android version numberOn the Android device, go to Settings > Apps > Firefox > Version, or use ADB: 'adb shell dumpsys package org.mozilla.firefox | grep versionName'. Record the version number shown.Affected if Unable to retrieve version - verify package name and try again
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Compare installed version to affected rangeCompare the installed version to the affected range: versions prior to 44.0 (specifically <= 43.0.4). If the version string starts with 44 or higher (e.g., 44.0, 44.0.1, 45.0), the vulnerability is patched.Affected if Version is less than 44.0 (such as 43.0.4, 43.0.3, 42.x, etc.) - the address bar spoofing vulnerability is present
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Confirm Android as the operating systemVerify the device is running Android. Check Settings > About Phone > Android version, or use ADB: 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'.Affected if Device is not running Android - CVE specifically affects Firefox for Android, not other platforms
If Mozilla Firefox for Android is installed with a version number below 44.0 on any Android version, the address bar spoofing vulnerability is present in the 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 for Android to version 44.0 or later to remediate the address bar spoofing vulnerability.
Fix this in Firefox
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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 $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-1940 — 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-2016-1940 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