CVSS2
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
HIGH
Authentication
NONE
Confidentiality Impact
PARTIAL
Integrity Impact
PARTIAL
Availability Impact
PARTIAL
AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
EPSS
Percentile
98.3%
Mozilla Firefox may execute JavaScript contained within the IconURL
parameter of InstallTrigger.install()
with chrome privileges. This may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on a vulnerable system.
XPInstall
XPInstall is a cross-platform software installation method used by Mozilla-based browsers.
Chrome
The Mozilla user interface components outside of the content area are created using chrome. This includes toolbars, menu bars, progress bars, and window title bars. Chrome provides content, locale, and skin information for the user interface.
Chrome Script
Chrome scripts have privileges that web scripts do not. Chrome scripts do not prompt for permission before executing potentially dangerous commands, such as creating or calling XPCOM components.
JavaScript Eval Function
The JavaScript eval()
function evaluates and/or executes the specified code. For example, either of the following URLs will display an alert dialog containing the text “Hello world.”:
> `javascript:eval(‘alert(“Hello world.”)’)
javascript:alert(“Hello world.”)`
The Problem
The IconURL
parameter of the XPInstall InstallTrigger
accepts JavaScript URIs (in-line JavaScript) as input. This JavaScript can execute with chrome privileges if it contains eval()
. By granting UniversalXPConnect privileges to itself, a chrome script can gain unrestricted access to browser APIs using XPConnect. A script with these privileges may create and execute arbitrary files on the local filesystem.
The Mozilla Suite does not appear to be affected because it does not use the IconURL parameter.
By convincing a user to view an HTML document (e.g., a web page), an attacker could execute arbitrary commands or code with the privileges of the user. The attacker could take any action as the user. If the user has administrative privileges, the attacker could take complete control of the user’s system.
Note that Mozilla Firefox enables by default a “whitelist” feature for XPInstall. This means that an attacker must have control of a site listed in the whitelist to successfully exploit this vulnerability. The default sites in the whitelist are addons.mozilla.org
and update.mozilla.org
. Several changes have been made to these sites to help prevent an attacker from using these sites for exploitation.
Upgrade
This issue is resolved in Firefox 1.0.4.
Workarounds
Disable software installation
In the Firefox preferences, disable “Allow web sites to install software.” This prevents the web browser from executing the vulnerable InstallTrigger
method.
648758
Filter by status: All Affected Not Affected Unknown
Filter by content: __ Additional information available
__ Sort by: Status Alphabetical
Expand all
Javascript is disabled. Click here to view vendors.
Updated: May 10, 2005
Affected
We have not received a statement from the vendor.
The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.
Please see Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory 2005-42.
If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23648758 Feedback>).
Updated: August 01, 2005
Affected
Updated Mozilla packages (for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, 3, and 2.1) and
updated Firefox packages (for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4) to correct this
issue are available at the URL below and by using the Red Hat Network
‘up2date’ tool.
<http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/CAN-2005-1477.html>
The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.
Group | Score | Vector |
---|---|---|
Base | ||
Temporal | ||
Environmental |
This vulnerability was reported by Paul of Greyhats and Michael Krax. Thanks to Daniel Veditz of the Mozilla Foundation for discussing the vulnerability.
This document was written by Will Dormann.
CVE IDs: | CVE-2005-1477 |
---|---|
Severity Metric: | 8.57 Date Public: |
6
greyhatsecurity.org/vulntests/ffrc.htm
secunia.com/advisories/15292/
www.frsirt.com/english/advisories/2005/0493
www.mozilla.org/security/announce/mfsa2005-42.html
www.mozilla.org/security/announce/mfsa2005-43.html
www.mozilla.org/security/announce/mfsa2005-44.html
www.osvdb.org/displayvuln.php?osvdb_id=16185
www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/397817/2005-05-07/2005-05-13/0
www.securityfocus.com/bid/13544668916
www.securitytracker.com/alerts/2005/May/1013913.html
bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=292691
bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=293302