FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2020-12423
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 · uneditedWhen the Windows DLL "webauthn.dll" was missing from the Operating System, and a malicious one was placed in a folder in the user's %PATH%, Firefox may have loaded the DLL, leading to arbitrary code execution. *Note: This issue only affects the Windows operating system; other operating systems are unaffected.* This vulnerability affects Firefox < 78.
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 confidenceA DLL hijacking vulnerability in Firefox on Windows where the application loads a malicious webauthn.dll from a user-controlled PATH directory when the legitimate system DLL is missing, allowing arbitrary code execution.
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
FirefoxWeb browser
< 78.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Firefox versionOpen Firefox, go to Help > About Firefox, or run 'firefox --version' from command line, or check Add/Remove Programs for Mozilla FirefoxAffected if Version is below 78.0 (any version starting with 77.x or earlier)
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Verify webauthn.dll presence in System32Open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\webauthn.dll, or run 'dir C:\Windows\System32\webauthn.dll' in command promptAffected if The file does NOT exist (is missing from the legitimate system directory)
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Audit PATH environment variable for untrusted directoriesOpen System Properties > Environment Variables, or run 'echo %PATH%' in command prompt, and review all directories listedAffected if PATH contains user-writable directories outside of system folders (such as temp folders, downloads, or untrusted third-party locations)
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Confirm Firefox is running on WindowsVerify the operating system is Windows (the vulnerability only affects Firefox on Windows)Affected if Running Windows OS with Firefox installed
You are affected if Firefox version is below 78.0 AND webauthn.dll is missing from System32 AND your PATH contains user-controllable directories, allowing Firefox to load a malicious DLL from that PATH.
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 data78.0
Update Firefox to version 78 or later. Additionally, audit the user PATH environment variable for untrusted directories and ensure the legitimate webauthn.dll is present in the Windows System32 directory.
Fix this in Firefox
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12423 — 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-2020-12423 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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