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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2022-38477

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-12-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 102.2 / 104.0 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
Mozilla developer Nika Layzell and the Mozilla Fuzzing Team reported memory safety bugs present in Firefox 103 and Firefox ESR 102.1. Some of these bugs showed evidence of memory corruption and we presume that with enough effort some of these could have been exploited to run arbitrary code. This vulnerability affects Firefox ESR < 102.2, Thunderbird < 102.2, and Firefox < 104.

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 103 and Firefox ESR 102.1 allowed memory corruption that could potentially be exploited for arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability was discovered through fuzzing testing.

MitigationUpgrade to Firefox ESR 102.2, Thunderbird 102.2, Firefox 104 or later to apply the memory safety fixes.

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
Affected:< 104.0
Firefox EsrWeb browser
Affected:< 102.2
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:< 102.2

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checks

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

  1. Check Firefox version
    In Firefox, navigate to Menu > Help > About Firefox. The version number will display on this page. Alternatively, enter 'about:support' in the address bar and look for the 'Version' field under 'Application Basics'.
    Affected if The version displayed is earlier than 104.0 (for example, 103.0, 103.0.1, etc.)
  2. Check Firefox ESR version
    In Firefox ESR, navigate to Menu > Help > About Firefox ESR. The version number will display on this page. Alternatively, enter 'about:support' in the address bar and look for the 'Version' field under 'Application Basics'.
    Affected if The version displayed is earlier than 102.2 (for example, 102.0, 102.1, etc.)
  3. Check Thunderbird version
    In Thunderbird, navigate to Menu > Help > About Thunderbird. The version number will display on this page. Alternatively, navigate to 'Help > Troubleshooting Information' and look for the 'Version' field.
    Affected if The version displayed is earlier than 102.2 (for example, 102.0, 102.1, etc.)
  4. Check version via command line
    On systems with command-line access, run 'firefox --version' or 'thunderbird --version' to retrieve the installed version. On Windows, you can also check via PowerShell: Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox' or check the executable properties.
    Affected if The returned version is lower than 104.0 for Firefox, or lower than 102.2 for Firefox ESR or Thunderbird.

You are affected if any installed instance of Firefox (including ESR) or Thunderbird is version 103.x or earlier, or ESR/Thunderbird 102.1 or earlier.

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 102.2 / 104.0 or later
Fixed in 102.2104.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Firefox ESR 102.2, Thunderbird 102.2, Firefox 104 or later to apply the memory safety fixes.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 104.0, Firefox ESR 102.2, or Thunderbird 102.2

  1. Check current installed version of Firefox, Firefox ESR, or Thunderbird
  2. For Firefox: Download and install Firefox 104.0 or later from the official Mozilla website (www.mozilla.org)
  3. For Firefox ESR: Download and install Firefox ESR 102.2 or later from the official Mozilla website
  4. For Thunderbird: Download and install Thunderbird 102.2 or later from the official Mozilla website
  5. Restart the application after installation
  6. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release

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

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

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-2022-38477 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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