CVE-2016-9079
Mozilla Firefox, Firefox ESR, and Thunderbird Use-After-Free Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 13 July 2023). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
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 3.1
- 7.5 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- EPSS
- 87.36% probability · 100th percentile
- Public exploits
- 2 in Exploit-DB · verified · first 24 January 2017
- CISA KEV
- Listed 22 June 2023 · due 13 July 2023
- Weakness
- CWE-416
- Affected
- debian/debian linux · redhat/enterprise linux · redhat/enterprise linux desktop · redhat/enterprise linux server · redhat/enterprise linux server aus · redhat/enterprise linux server eus · redhat/enterprise linux workstation · mozilla/thunderbird · mozilla/firefox · torproject/tor
- Source
- security@mozilla.org
EPSS 87.4% since 27 October 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
CISA notes
Apply updates per vendor instructions. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2016-92/#CVE-2016-9079; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-9079
Public exploits (2)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
| EDB-ID | Title | Type | Published | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EDB-42327source ↗ | Firefox 50.0.1 - ASM.JS JIT-Spray Remote Code Executionwindows · Rh0 | remote | 14 July 2017 | no |
| EDB-41151source ↗ | Mozilla Firefox < 50.0.2 - 'nsSMILTimeContainer::NotifyTimeChange()' Remote Code Execution (Metasploit)windows · Metasploit | remote | 24 January 2017 | yes |
References
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2843.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2850.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94591Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037370Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1321066Exploit, Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-15Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-35Third Party Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3730Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41151/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42327/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.mozilla.org/security/advisories/mfsa2016-92/Vendor Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2843.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2850.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94591Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037370Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1321066Exploit, Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-15Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-35Third Party Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3730Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41151/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42327/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.mozilla.org/security/advisories/mfsa2016-92/Vendor Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2016-9079US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.