dbcve.org
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system · Redhat

CVE-2018-5144

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-06-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 52.7.0 or later.
See remediation →
82/100
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
An integer overflow can occur during conversion of text to some Unicode character sets due to an unchecked length parameter. This vulnerability affects Firefox ESR < 52.7 and Thunderbird < 52.7.

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 confidence

Integer overflow vulnerability in the text-to-Unicode character set conversion process due to an unchecked length parameter. This can lead to memory corruption when processing text in affected character encodings, potentially allowing heap-based buffer overflows or unexpected behavior.

MitigationUpgrade Firefox ESR to version 52.7 or later, and Thunderbird to version 52.7 or later, to patch the vulnerable text conversion code.

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
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 7.4
Enterprise Linux Server EusOperating system
Affected:= 7.2= 7.4= 7.5
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.0= 8.0= 9.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 14.04= 16.04= 17.10
FirefoxWeb browser
Affected:< 52.7.0

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
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

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. Check installed Firefox version
    In Firefox, go to Help > About Firefox, or run 'firefox --version' from command line. Compare the version number to 52.7.0
    Affected if Firefox version is less than 52.7.0
  2. Check Firefox package version on Red Hat systems
    Run 'rpm -q firefox' to query the installed Firefox package version
    Affected if Firefox version is less than 52.7.0-1 or equivalent补丁版本 (check against 52.7.0 threshold)
  3. Check Firefox package version on Debian/Ubuntu systems
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep firefox' or 'apt show firefox' to see installed version
    Affected if Firefox version is less than 52.7.0
  4. Check for vulnerable text conversion components
    Identify if character encoding conversion libraries (such as ICU, iconv, or similar) from the affected OS versions are in use. Check library versions with 'ldd $(which firefox)' or examine system encoding libraries
    Affected if System uses character encoding libraries from affected OS versions (RHEL 6.0-7.x, Debian 7-9, Ubuntu 14.04-17.10) with Firefox < 52.7.0 installed
  5. Verify Thunderbird version if installed
    Run 'thunderbird --version' or check package manager for Thunderbird version
    Affected if Thunderbird version is less than 52.7.0 and system is within affected OS version ranges

Your environment is affected if Firefox or Thunderbird version is less than 52.7.0 on any of the listed Red Hat, Debian, or Ubuntu versions, since the integer overflow exists in the text-to-Unicode character conversion code.

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 52.7.0 or later
Fixed in 52.7.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Firefox ESR to version 52.7 or later, and Thunderbird to version 52.7 or later, to patch the vulnerable text conversion code.

Fix this in Enterprise Linux Desktop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5144 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2018-5144 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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