CVE-2025-2817
HIGHCVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Lifecycle Timeline
3Description
Thunderbird's update mechanism allowed a medium-integrity user process to interfere with the SYSTEM-level updater by manipulating the file-locking behavior. By injecting code into the user-privileged process, an attacker could bypass intended access controls, allowing SYSTEM-level file operations on paths controlled by a non-privileged user and enabling privilege escalation. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 138, Firefox ESR < 128.10, Firefox ESR < 115.23, Thunderbird < 138, and Thunderbird < 128.10.
Analysis
Thunderbird's update mechanism allowed a medium-integrity user process to interfere with the SYSTEM-level updater by manipulating the file-locking behavior. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Technical Context
This vulnerability is classified as Path Traversal (CWE-22), which allows attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path. Thunderbird's update mechanism allowed a medium-integrity user process to interfere with the SYSTEM-level updater by manipulating the file-locking behavior. By injecting code into the user-privileged process, an attacker could bypass intended access controls, allowing SYSTEM-level file operations on paths controlled by a non-privileged user and enabling privilege escalation. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 138, Firefox ESR < 128.10, Firefox ESR < 115.23, Thunderbird < 138, and Thunderbird < 128.10. Affected products include: Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird.
Affected Products
Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird.
Remediation
No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Validate and canonicalize file paths. Use chroot or sandboxing. Reject input containing path separators or '../' sequences.
Priority Score
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External POC / Exploit Code
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