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HIGH · CVSS 7.5 CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

CVE-2016-9079

Mozilla Firefox, Firefox ESR, and Thunderbird Use-After-Free Vulnerability

Mozilla Firefox, Firefox ESR, and Thunderbird

A use-after-free vulnerability in SVG Animation has been discovered. An exploit built on this vulnerability has been discovered in the wild targeting Firefox and Tor Browser users on Windows. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 50.0.2, Firefox ESR < 45.5.1, and Thunderbird < 45.5.1.

CVSS
7.5
HIGH
EPSS
87.4%
30-day exploitation
Ransomware groups
0
recorded exploiting
Published
11 Jun 2018
CWE-416

Exploitation status

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

Listed by CISA on 22 June 2023. US federal agencies were required to remediate it by 13 July 2023.

EPSS — exploitation probability

FIRST puts the probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days at 87.4%, which is higher than 99.8% of all scored vulnerabilities. EPSS is a forecast of activity, not a measure of severity, and it is rescored daily.

CVSS vector

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

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2016-9079 being exploited by ransomware groups?

No ransomware group in this database is currently recorded as exploiting CVE-2016-9079.

What does CVE-2016-9079 affect?

CVE-2016-9079 affects Mozilla Firefox, Firefox ESR, and Thunderbird. A use-after-free vulnerability in SVG Animation has been discovered. An exploit built on this vulnerability has been discovered in the wild targeting Firefox and Tor Browser users on Windows. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 50.0.2, Firefox ESR < 45.5.1, and Thunderbird < 45.5.1.

How severe is CVE-2016-9079?

CVE-2016-9079 is rated HIGH with a CVSS base score of 7.5. EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 87.4%, higher than 99.8% of all scored vulnerabilities. It is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, with a federal remediation deadline of 13 July 2023.

How should organisations respond to CVE-2016-9079?

Apply the vendor patch for Mozilla Firefox, Firefox ESR, and Thunderbird as the first priority, and treat any internet-facing instance as the most urgent. Because this vulnerability is associated with ransomware activity, also review whether the affected systems were reachable before patching, rather than assuming that patching alone closes the incident.