CVE-2019-11706
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 · uneditedA flaw in Thunderbird's implementation of iCal causes a type confusion in icaltimezone_get_vtimezone_properties when processing certain email messages, resulting in a crash. This vulnerability affects Thunderbird < 60.7.1.
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 confidenceA type confusion vulnerability exists in Thunderbird's iCal implementation within the icaltimezone_get_vtimezone_properties function. When processing specially crafted email messages containing iCal data, the type confusion leads to a crash. This is a memory safety issue in the timezone parsing logic.
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< 60.7.1CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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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Verify Thunderbird is installedCheck for Thunderbird executable or application. On Windows: look in Program Files for 'Thunderbird' folder or check Start menu. On macOS: check /Applications for Thunderbird.app. On Linux: run 'which thunderbird' or check package manager.Affected if Thunderbird is not present on the system, this CVE does not apply.
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Determine installed Thunderbird versionOpen Thunderbird and navigate to Help > About Thunderbird, or run 'thunderbird --version' from command line. On Windows, right-click Thunderbird.exe > Properties > Details tab > File version. On macOS, right-click Thunderbird.app > Get Info > Version.Affected if The version displayed is less than 60.7.1 (for example, 60.7.0, 60.6.0, etc.).
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Confirm iCal timezone parsing is presentThe vulnerability exists in the icaltimezone_get_vtimezone_properties function within Thunderbird's iCal implementation. This is built into Thunderbird's calendar component. No additional configuration check is needed - the vulnerable code is present in all affected versions.Affected if Thunderbird version is below 60.7.1 and the calendar functionality is included in the installation.
You are affected if Mozilla Thunderbird is installed and its version is less than 60.7.1, as the type confusion vulnerability in the iCal timezone parsing code is present in those versions.
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 data60.7.1
Upgrade Thunderbird to version 60.7.1 or later. Until upgraded, exercise caution with unexpected email messages containing calendar invitations or iCal content.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-11706 — 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-2019-11706 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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- 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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