FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2018-18496
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 · uneditedWhen the RSS Feed preview about:feeds page is framed within another page, it can be used in concert with scripted content for a clickjacking attack that confuses users into downloading and executing an executable file from a temporary directory. *Note: This issue only affects Windows operating systems. Other operating systems are not affected.*. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 64.
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 confidenceA clickjacking vulnerability in Firefox's RSS Feed preview (about:feeds) page allows attackers to embed the page in a frame and use scripted content to trick Windows users into downloading and executing malicious executables from temporary directories.
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
< 64.0CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 if Firefox is installedCheck for Firefox executable in standard installation paths (e.g., C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe on Windows, /Applications/Firefox.app on macOS, or /usr/lib/firefox on Linux). Look for firefox in PATH or check system installed programs.Affected if Firefox is installed on the system
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Determine the installed Firefox versionOn Windows, go to Help > About Firefox, or run 'firefox --version' from command line. On Linux, run 'firefox --version' or check the package manager. On macOS, right-click Firefox.app > Get Info to see version.Affected if The version number returned is less than 64.0
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Verify the operating system is WindowsCheck the OS type (run 'systeminfo' on Windows, 'uname -a' on Unix-like systems, or check system properties).Affected if The system is running Windows (the clickjacking targets Windows users specifically)
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Confirm the about:feeds page is accessible in the browserOpen a new tab and type 'about:feeds' in the address bar, then press Enter. The RSS Feed preview page should load.Affected if The page loads successfully (the vulnerability exists in this built-in page for affected versions)
A user is affected if they are running Mozilla Firefox version less than 64.0 on Windows and can access the about:feeds page.
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 data64.0
Upgrade Firefox to version 64 or later. Until then, avoid clicking untrusted links that could frame the about:feeds page, and disable JavaScript from untrusted sources.
Fix this in Firefox
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-18496 — 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-2018-18496 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
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