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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2017-5425

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-06-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 52.0 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
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
The Gecko Media Plugin sandbox allows access to local files that match specific regular expressions. On OS OX, this matching allows access to some data in subdirectories of "/private/var" that could expose personal or temporary data. This has been updated to not allow access to "/private/var" and its subdirectories. Note: this issue only affects OS X. Other operating systems are not affected. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 52 and Thunderbird < 52.

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

The Gecko Media Plugin sandbox in Firefox and Thunderbird on OS X contained a regex-based file access control flaw that incorrectly permitted access to files under /private/var and its subdirectories, potentially exposing personal or temporary data to web content.

MitigationUpdate affected installations to Firefox 52+, Thunderbird 52+, or later versions to patch the sandbox regex restriction.

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:< 52.0
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:< 52.0

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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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. Verify operating system is macOS
    Run 'uname -s' or check System Preferences to confirm the OS is Darwin/OS X. This vulnerability only affects macOS.
    Affected if The operating system is macOS/Darwin
  2. Check Firefox version
    In Firefox, go to Help > About Firefox, or run 'firefox --version' from command line. Compare the version number to 52.0.
    Affected if Firefox version is below 52.0 on macOS
  3. Check Thunderbird version
    In Thunderbird, go to Help > About Thunderbird, or run 'thunderbird --version' from command line. Compare the version number to 52.0.
    Affected if Thunderbird version is below 52.0 on macOS
  4. Confirm Gecko Media Plugin is in use
    Check if the browser has plugins enabled. Visit about:plugins in Firefox or check plugin settings. The flaw exists in the Gecko Media Plugin sandbox mechanism.
    Affected if Gecko Media Plugin is enabled and the browser version is vulnerable

A user is affected if running Firefox or Thunderbird version below 52.0 on macOS with the Gecko Media Plugin sandbox 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 52.0 or later
Fixed in 52.0
Interim mitigation

Update affected installations to Firefox 52+, Thunderbird 52+, or later versions to patch the sandbox regex restriction.

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA0.5 h
4.5 hours of engineering $800
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,280.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2017-5425 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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