dbcve.org
Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2018-5168

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-06-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 52.8.0 / 60.0 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Sites can bypass security checks on permissions to install lightweight themes by manipulating the "baseURI" property of the theme element. This could allow a malicious site to install a theme without user interaction which could contain offensive or embarrassing images. This vulnerability affects Thunderbird < 52.8, Thunderbird ESR < 52.8, Firefox < 60, and Firefox ESR < 52.8.

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

A vulnerability in Firefox and Thunderbird allows malicious websites to bypass security checks for installing lightweight themes by manipulating the 'baseURI' property of theme elements, enabling theme installation without user interaction or consent.

MitigationUpdate affected Firefox versions to 60+ and Firefox ESR to 52.8+, or Thunderbird to 52.8+ to patch this vulnerability. Organizations should ensure all browser installations are patched.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.0= 8.0= 9.0
FirefoxWeb browser
Affected:< 52.8.0< 60.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 14.04= 16.04= 17.10= 18.04
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 7.6
Enterprise Linux Server EusOperating system
Affected:= 7.5= 7.6
Enterprise Linux Server TusOperating system
Affected:= 7.6

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if Firefox is installed
    Run 'firefox --version' or 'rpm -q firefox' on RHEL/Debian, 'dpkg -l firefox' on Ubuntu
    Affected if Firefox is installed and the version is less than 52.8.0 or between 52.8.0 and 60.0 (exclusive)
  2. Check if Thunderbird is installed
    Run 'thunderbird --version' or 'rpm -q thunderbird' on RHEL/Debian, 'dpkg -l thunderbird' on Ubuntu
    Affected if Thunderbird is installed and the version is less than 52.8.0
  3. Verify Firefox version number
    Check the exact version output from step 1 against the affected ranges: < 52.8.0 or < 60.0
    Affected if The installed version is any release prior to 60.0 (versions 52.8.0 through 59.x are also affected per the advisory)
  4. Check OS-level Firefox package versions on Linux
    On RHEL: 'rpm -qa | grep -i firefox'; On Debian/Ubuntu: 'dpkg -l | grep -i firefox'
    Affected if System package version is earlier than the fixed versions provided by your distribution

A user is affected if Firefox versions below 60.0 (or below 52.8.0 for older ESR branches) or Thunderbird versions below 52.8.0 are installed and the browser/Thunderbird application is used to access websites.

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 52.8.0 / 60.0 or later
Fixed in 52.8.060.0
Interim mitigation

Update affected Firefox versions to 60+ and Firefox ESR to 52.8+, or Thunderbird to 52.8+ to patch this vulnerability. Organizations should ensure all browser installations are patched.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2018-5168 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