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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2018-5187

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-10-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 60.0 / 60.1.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Memory safety bugs present in Firefox 60 and Firefox ESR 60. Some of these bugs showed evidence of memory corruption and we presume that with enough effort that some of these could be exploited to run arbitrary code. This vulnerability affects Thunderbird < 60, Firefox ESR < 60.1, and Firefox < 61.

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

Memory safety bugs in Firefox 60 and Firefox ESR 60 allow memory corruption that can potentially be exploited for arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability affects Thunderbird versions before 60, Firefox ESR versions before 60.1, and Firefox versions before 61.

MitigationUpgrade to Thunderbird 60+, Firefox ESR 60.1+, or Firefox 61+ to patch the memory corruption vulnerabilities.

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:= 8.0= 9.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 14.04= 16.04= 17.10= 18.04
FirefoxWeb browser
Affected:< 60.1.0< 61.0
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:< 60.0

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

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

  1. Check installed Firefox version
    Run 'firefox --version' on Linux, or open Firefox and go to Help > About Firefox on Windows/macOS. Alternatively, check the package manager: 'dpkg -l | grep firefox' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'rpm -qa | grep firefox' (RHEL-based)
    Affected if Version is below 60.1.0 (ESR) or below 61.0 (non-ESR)
  2. Check installed Thunderbird version
    Run 'thunderbird --version' on Linux, or open Thunderbird and go to Help > About Thunderbird on Windows/macOS. Alternatively, check the package manager: 'dpkg -l | grep thunderbird' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'rpm -qa | grep thunderbird' (RHEL-based)
    Affected if Version is below 60.0
  3. Verify if running vulnerable Firefox ESR build
    In Firefox, type 'about:support' in the address bar and look for the 'Version' field. If it shows '60esr' check if it is below 60.1.0esr
    Affected if Running Firefox ESR 60.0 through 60.0.x (below 60.1.0esr)
  4. Confirm application is actually in use
    Verify that the detected Firefox or Thunderbird installation is the primary installed browser/email client and not a sandboxed or unused secondary installation
    Affected if The vulnerable version is the active, regularly-used application

You are affected if you actively use Firefox below 61.0 (or below 60.1.0 for ESR) or Thunderbird below 60.0, regardless of operating system.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 60.0 / 60.1.0 / 61.0 or later
Fixed in 60.060.1.061.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Thunderbird 60+, Firefox ESR 60.1+, or Firefox 61+ to patch the memory corruption vulnerabilities.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 61.0 (or 60.1.0 ESR), Thunderbird 60.0

  1. 1. Back up all critical data and browser profiles before upgrading
  2. 2. For Firefox: Upgrade to version 60.1.0, 61.0, or latest available release
  3. 3. For Firefox ESR: Upgrade to version 60.1 or later
  4. 4. For Thunderbird: Upgrade to version 60.0 or later
  5. 5. For Debian/Ubuntu: Use system package manager (apt-get update && apt-get upgrade) or download from official Mozilla repositories
  6. 6. Restart the browser/application after upgrade
  7. 7. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release
Caveat Some extensions may be incompatible with major version upgrades; review add-on compatibility before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

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-2018-5187 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