FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla
CVE-2020-15657
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 · uneditedFirefox could be made to load attacker-supplied DLL files from the installation directory. This required an attacker that is already capable of placing files in the installation directory. *Note: This issue only affected Windows operating systems. Other operating systems are unaffected.*. This vulnerability affects Firefox ESR < 78.1, Firefox < 79, and Thunderbird < 78.1.
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 confidenceA DLL hijacking vulnerability in Firefox and Thunderbird on Windows allowed an attacker with file system access to the installation directory to place a malicious DLL that would be loaded by the browser, achieving arbitrary code execution. The attacker needed pre-existing write access to the Firefox installation folder.
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
< 79.0
Firefox EsrWeb browser
< 78.1< 78.1CVSS 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
- 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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Verify Windows platformConfirm the operating system is Windows. This vulnerability only affects Firefox and Thunderbird on Windows systems.Affected if The system is not running Windows - the vulnerability does not apply to other operating systems.
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Check Firefox versionIn Firefox, navigate to Help > About Firefox, or type about:support in the address bar, to view the installed version number.Affected if The installed Firefox version is less than 79.0.
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Check Firefox ESR versionIn Firefox ESR, navigate to Help > About Firefox, or type about:support in the address bar, to view the installed version number.Affected if The installed Firefox ESR version is less than 78.1.
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Check Thunderbird versionIn Thunderbird, navigate to Help > About Thunderbird to view the installed version number.Affected if The installed Thunderbird version is less than 78.1.
The system is affected if running Windows with Firefox below 79.0, Firefox ESR below 78.1, or Thunderbird below 78.1, and an attacker has write access to the installation directory to place a malicious DLL.
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 data78.179.0
Update Firefox ESR to 78.1 or later, Firefox to 79 or later, and Thunderbird to 78.1 or later to remediate this vulnerability.
Fix this in Firefox
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 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 $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-15657 — 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-2020-15657 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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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.
- 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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