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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2022-46872

HIGH · 8.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-12-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 102.6 / 108.0 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
An attacker who compromised a content process could have partially escaped the sandbox to read arbitrary files via clipboard-related IPC messages.<br>*This bug only affects Thunderbird for Linux. Other operating systems are unaffected.*. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 108, Firefox ESR < 102.6, and Thunderbird < 102.6.

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

A sandbox escape vulnerability in Thunderbird (and Firefox) on Linux allows a compromised content process to send clipboard-related IPC messages that bypass sandbox restrictions, enabling arbitrary file reads on the local system.

MitigationUpdate Thunderbird to version 102.6 or later, and Firefox to version 108+ (or Firefox ESR 102.6+) to patch the vulnerable clipboard IPC handling.

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:< 108.0
Firefox EsrWeb browser
Affected:< 102.6
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:< 102.6

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
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed Mozilla product and version
    Run 'firefox --version' or 'thunderbird --version' in terminal, or check /usr/lib/firefox/versions.json or /usr/lib/thunderbird/versions.json
    Affected if Product is Firefox with version < 108.0, Firefox ESR < 102.6, or Thunderbird < 102.6
  2. Confirm Linux operating system
    Run 'uname -a' or check /etc/os-release to verify the OS is Linux
    Affected if The system is running Linux (this vulnerability only affects Linux)
  3. Verify sandbox is enabled in the browser profile
    Check for existence of ~/.mozilla/firefox/*.default/sandboxed or look in about:config for 'security.sandbox.content.enabled' set to true
    Affected if Sandbox is enabled (the vulnerability allows a compromised content process to bypass it)
  4. Check for recent clipboard IPC activity
    Review browser console logs (Ctrl+Shift+J) or system audit logs for clipboard-related IPC messages from content process
    Affected if Clipboard IPC messages are being processed by the content process

User is affected if running Firefox < 108.0 (or ESR < 102.6) or Thunderbird < 102.6 on Linux with sandbox enabled, as the vulnerability allows a compromised content process to bypass sandbox restrictions for file access.

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 102.6 / 108.0 or later
Fixed in 102.6108.0
Interim mitigation

Update Thunderbird to version 102.6 or later, and Firefox to version 108+ (or Firefox ESR 102.6+) to patch the vulnerable clipboard IPC handling.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 108.0, Firefox ESR 102.6, or Thunderbird 102.6 (depending on product)

  1. 1. Check the current installed version of Firefox, Firefox ESR, or Thunderbird
  2. 2. For Firefox: Upgrade to version 108.0 or later
  3. 3. For Firefox ESR: Upgrade to version 102.6 or later
  4. 4. For Thunderbird: Upgrade to version 102.6 or later
  5. 5. Restart the application after upgrade
  6. 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
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

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-2022-46872 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