Mozilla developers reported memory safety bugs present in Firefox 92 and Firefox ESR 91.1.
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 9 fixed, 1 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
Mozilla developers reported memory safety bugs present in Firefox 92 and Firefox ESR 91.1. Some of these bugs showed evidence of memory corruption and we presume that with enough effort some of these could have been exploited to run arbitrary code. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 93, Thunderbird < 91.2, and Firefox ESR < 91.2.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mozilla | Firefox | before 93 | 93 | Patch available | CNA |
| Mozilla | Thunderbird | before 91.2 | 91.2 | Patch available | CNA |
| Mozilla | Firefox ESR | before 91.2 | 91.2 | Patch available | CNA |
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Firefox (Mozilla) Fixed in 93
- Fix · CNA Thunderbird (Mozilla) Fixed in 91.2
- Fix · CNA Firefox ESR (Mozilla) Fixed in 91.2
Red Hat 8 advisories
- RHSA-2021:3841 Released 2021-10-13 · Red Hat rating Importantthunderbird security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) thunderbird-91.2.0-1.el7_9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) thunderbird-91.2.0-1.el7_9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) thunderbird-91.2.0-1.el7_9
- RHSA-2021:3838 Released 2021-10-13 · Red Hat rating Importantthunderbird security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) thunderbird-91.2.0-1.el8_4
- RHSA-2021:3839 Released 2021-10-13 · Red Hat rating Importantthunderbird security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.2) thunderbird-91.2.0-1.el8_2
Show 5 more Red Hat advisories
- RHSA-2021:3840 Released 2021-10-13 · Red Hat rating Importantthunderbird security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.1) thunderbird-91.2.0-1.el8_1
- RHSA-2021:3791 Released 2021-10-12 · Red Hat rating Importantfirefox security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) firefox-91.2.0-4.el7_9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) firefox-91.2.0-4.el7_9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) firefox-91.2.0-4.el7_9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) firefox-91.2.0-4.el7_9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) firefox-91.2.0-4.el7_9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) firefox-91.2.0-4.el7_9
- RHSA-2021:3755 Released 2021-10-11 · Red Hat rating Importantfirefox security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) firefox-91.2.0-4.el8_4
- RHSA-2021:3757 Released 2021-10-11 · Red Hat rating Importantfirefox security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.1) firefox-91.2.0-4.el8_1
- RHSA-2021:3756 Released 2021-10-11 · Red Hat rating Importantfirefox security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.2) firefox-91.2.0-4.el8_2
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
Mozilla Firefox 93
6 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 4 MEDIUM, 2 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2021-16100 Mozilla developers reported memory safety bugs present in Firefox 92 and Firefox ESR 91.1.Priority MEDIUM 41
- TI-2021-16096 Use after free in Mozilla ThunderbirdPriority MEDIUM 41
- TI-2021-16099 Out-of-bounds write in Mozilla FirefoxPriority MEDIUM 40
- Release ·
Mozilla Thunderbird 91.2
4 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 1 MEDIUM, 3 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2021-16098 Use after free in Mozilla FirefoxPriority LOW 36
- TI-2021-16097 Origin validation error in Mozilla FirefoxPriority LOW 30
- TI-2021-16102 Thunderbird ignored the configuration to require STARTTLS security for an SMTP connection.Priority LOW 29
Show 1 more group
- Release ·
Mozilla Firefox ESR 91.2
3 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 1 MEDIUM, 2 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2021-16098 Use after free in Mozilla FirefoxPriority LOW 36
- TI-2021-16097 Origin validation error in Mozilla FirefoxPriority LOW 30
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2021:3755, RHSA-2021:3838 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.1) | Fixed | RHSA-2021:3757, RHSA-2021:3840 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.2) | Fixed | RHSA-2021:3756, RHSA-2021:3839 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2021:3791, RHSA-2021:3841 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2021:3791 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2021:3791 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2021:3791, RHSA-2021:3841 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2021:3791, RHSA-2021:3841 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2021:3791 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-38501
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-jm85-6c37-hfcj
References
More Mozilla Firefox vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-08981 Use after free in Mozilla Firefox KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2022-09832 Use after free in Mozilla Firefox KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.6
- TI-2019-08769 Improper input validation in Mozilla Firefox ESR KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2010-03577 Mozilla Firefox 3.5.x through 3.5.14 and 3.6.x through 3.6.11, Thunderbird 3.1.6 before… KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2023-04799 Out-of-bounds write in Google Chrome KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2023-04477 Out-of-bounds write in Google Chrome KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
Sources
- CVE-2021-38501 · CVE Program
- CVE-2021-38501 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-jm85-6c37-hfcj · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2021-38501 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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