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Privilege escalation in Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird Toolkit

Priority MEDIUM 49CWE-269Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Privilege escalation
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-269.

Summary

Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird contain a privilege escalation flaw in the Toolkit component. Improper privilege management (CWE-269) lets a remote attacker gain elevated privileges without authentication or user interaction, with high impact on confidentiality, integrity and availability.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05

Description from the CNA

Privilege escalation in the Toolkit component. This vulnerability was fixed in Firefox 159, Firefox ESR 153.6, Thunderbird 159, and Thunderbird 153.6.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00467 40th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed Firefox (Mozilla): 153.6, 159Thunderbird (Mozilla): 153.6, 159

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
Yes
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
MozillaFirefox—153.6, 159Patch availableCNA
MozillaThunderbird—153.6, 159Patch availableCNA
  • Firefox VendorMozilla Affected — Fixed in 153.6, 159 Patch available CNA
  • Thunderbird VendorMozilla Affected — Fixed in 153.6, 159 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 2

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:firefox:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——Mozilla
cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:thunderbird:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——Mozilla
  • cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:firefox:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Mozilla
  • cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:thunderbird:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Mozilla

Remediation

Update Firefox to version 159 or Firefox ESR 153.6 and Thunderbird to version 159 or Thunderbird 153.6, which contain the fix.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05

  • Fix · CNA Firefox (Mozilla) Fixed in 153.6, 159
  • Fix · CNA Thunderbird (Mozilla) Fixed in 153.6, 159

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-27 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-117981
  2. 2026-10-27 Fix available: Mozilla/Thunderbird@159 · CNA
  3. 2026-10-27 1 new reference · CNA
  4. 2026-10-27 Fix available: Mozilla/[email protected] · CNA
  5. 2026-10-27 1 new reference · CNA
  6. 2026-10-27 Alias added: GHSA-3p53-mgmh-qw94
  7. 2026-11-05 CVSS score added · CISA ADP
  8. 2026-11-05 Weakness changed · CISA ADP
  9. 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
  10. 2026-11-05 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM

References

  • 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
See all 4204 →

Sources