CVE-2019-11755
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 crafted S/MIME message consisting of an inner encryption layer and an outer SignedData layer was shown as having a valid digital signature, although the signer might have had no access to the contents of the encrypted message, and might have stripped a different signature from the encrypted message. Previous versions had only suppressed showing a digital signature for messages with an outer multipart/signed layer. This vulnerability affects Thunderbird < 68.1.1.
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 · high confidenceThunderbird incorrectly displayed S/MIME messages with an inner encryption layer and outer SignedData layer as having valid digital signatures, even when the signer had no access to the encrypted contents and may have stripped a different signature. This signature spoofing flaw allowed attackers to forge seemingly valid signatures on messages they did not actually sign.
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< 68.1.1CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Thunderbird is installedCheck for the Thunderbird executable (thunderbird.exe on Windows, thunderbird on Linux/macOS) in typical installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\ or /Applications/ on macOS, or look for Thunderbird in the system program list.Affected if Thunderbird is not installed on the system
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Determine the installed Thunderbird versionOpen Thunderbird, then go to Help > About Thunderbird (or on Windows/Linux, Help > About Mozilla Thunderbird). The version number displayed in the dialog is the installed version.Affected if The displayed version is lower than 68.1.1 (for example, 68.0, 60.x, or earlier)
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Confirm S/MIME is in useInspect configured mail accounts in Thunderbird by going to Account Settings. Look for End-to-End Encryption settings or certificate configurations that indicate S/MIME is enabled for signed or encrypted email.Affected if S/MIME is configured and used for email signing or encryption
A user is affected if they have Thunderbird installed with a version below 68.1.1 and use S/MIME for signed messages.
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 data68.1.1
Update Thunderbird to version 68.1.1 or later to patch the S/MIME signature validation vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-11755 — 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-2019-11755 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data