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FirefoxWeb browser · Mozilla

CVE-2023-23598

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 102.7 / 109.0 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Due to the Firefox GTK wrapper code's use of text/plain for drag data and GTK treating all text/plain MIMEs containing file URLs as being dragged a website could arbitrarily read a file via a call to `DataTransfer.setData`. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 109, Firefox ESR < 102.7, and Thunderbird < 102.7.

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

Firefox's GTK wrapper uses text/plain MIME type for drag-and-drop operations. GTK incorrectly treats any text/plain content containing a file URL as a file drag operation. This allows malicious websites to call DataTransfer.setData with a file URL path, tricking the browser into reading and exfiltrating arbitrary local files when users drag content from the malicious page.

MitigationUpgrade to Firefox 109, Firefox ESR 102.7, Thunderbird 102.7 or later. This is a client-side vulnerability patched in vendor releases.

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:< 109.0
Firefox EsrWeb browser
Affected:< 102.7
ThunderbirdApplication
Affected:< 102.7

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/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. Check Firefox version
    Open Firefox and navigate to about:support, or run 'firefox --version' from command line
    Affected if Installed version is below 109.0 (e.g., 108.x, 107.x, etc.)
  2. Check Firefox ESR version
    Open Firefox ESR and navigate to about:support, or run 'firefox --version' from command line
    Affected if Installed version is below 102.7 (e.g., 102.6.x, 101.x, etc.) and is an ESR release
  3. Check Thunderbird version
    Open Thunderbird and navigate to Help > About, or run 'thunderbird --version' from command line
    Affected if Installed version is below 102.7 (e.g., 102.6.x, 101.x, etc.)
  4. Confirm GTK environment
    On Linux systems, the GTK wrapper is used by default. Check if running a GTK-based build by examining the Firefox or Thunderbird binary package or running 'firefox --gtk-version' if available
    Affected if Running a GTK-based build on Linux (this is the default for most Linux distributions)

You are affected if you run Firefox below 109.0, Firefox ESR below 102.7, or Thunderbird below 102.7 on a GTK-based system (Linux) and could potentially be tricked into dragging content from untrusted websites.

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 102.7 / 109.0 or later
Fixed in 102.7109.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Firefox 109, Firefox ESR 102.7, Thunderbird 102.7 or later. This is a client-side vulnerability patched in vendor releases.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firefox 109.0, Firefox ESR 102.7, or Thunderbird 102.7 depending on product

  1. Check current Firefox or Thunderbird version by navigating to Menu > Help > About Firefox/Thunderbird
  2. Download Firefox 109.0, Firefox ESR 102.7, or Thunderbird 102.7 from the official Mozilla website (www.mozilla.org)
  3. Close all running instances of the application
  4. Run the installer for the downloaded version
  5. Restart the browser after installation completes
  6. Verify the installed version by checking Menu > Help > About to confirm the version number matches the fixed release
Caveat Standard security update with no expected breaking changes for end users

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

Fix this in Firefox Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $910
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,456.

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-2023-23598 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