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Mozilla Firefox EUVDEUVD-2026-98501

| CVE-2026-109739 HIGH
Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269)
2026-10-13 mozilla GHSA-xc46-c8p5-77m7
8.8
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: mozilla
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Load malicious/low-privilege WebExtension
  2. Exploit
    Invoke flawed WebExtensions privilege path
  3. Execution
    Escalate beyond granted permissions
  4. Impact
    Execute with full browser privileges

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Least privilege enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires a low-privileged execution context within Firefox's WebExtensions subsystem - in practice an installed, malicious, or compromised browser extension - that can reach the vulnerable privilege-management code path (CWE-269); it affects Firefox versions prior to 158 and is remediated by upgrading to Firefox 158. The CVSS vector states no user interaction (UI:N) and low privilege (PR:L), so beyond having the extension present no further interaction is modeled. Limiting factors: an attacker must already have a foothold as an extension (or get one installed), and the AV:N labeling is questionable for a browser extension privilege-escalation flaw - realistic exploitation is tied to the extension context rather than direct unauthenticated network reach, which should be verified with Mozilla.

Impact

Signals are mixed and point to a moderate, not emergency, priority. The Mozilla-supplied CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N, C:H/I:H/A:H) yields 8.8 HIGH, implying a network-reachable, low-complexity flaw that needs only low privilege and no user interaction to fully compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Against that, the exploitation signals are weak: EPSS is just 0.16% (4th percentile), the CVE is NOT on the CISA KEV list, and no public PoC is referenced - so there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no evidence of active exploitation. There is also an internal tension worth flagging: this is a WebExtensions-component privilege escalation (CWE-269) in a client browser, yet it carries AV:N/PR:L. For a browser extension privilege-escalation issue, the 'low privilege' most plausibly means an attacker-controlled or malicious WebExtension context rather than a remote unauthenticated network attacker, so the practical attack surface is narrower than the 8.8/AV:N score suggests - verify the exploitation model with Mozilla. Net: a legitimately high-severity browser bug that should be patched on normal urgent-browser-update cadence, but the very low EPSS and absence of KEV/PoC indicate it is not currently being exploited at scale.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A user installs or is tricked into installing a malicious or compromised Firefox WebExtension that already runs with limited privileges. The extension abuses the flawed WebExtensions privilege-management code path to escalate out of its granted permissions and execute with full browser-level privileges, gaining access to all browsing data and the ability to run arbitrary code in the browser's context. No separate public exploit is known, and no user interaction beyond having the extension present is required per the CVSS vector.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 14, 2026

Privilege escalation in Mozilla Firefox's WebExtensions component allows an extension-level actor to gain capabilities beyond those it was granted, yielding high confidentiality and integrity impact; all Firefox builds prior to version 158 are affected, with the fix delivered in Firefox 158 via Mozilla security advisories mfsa2026-106 and mfsa2026-109. Exploitation requires a low-privileged foothold - in practice an already-installed malicious or compromised browser extension reaching the vulnerable privilege-management code path (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, CWE-269) - and no public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis. EPSS is low at 0.16% (4th percentile) and the flaw is not listed in CISA KEV; signals are mixed and point to a moderate, not emergency, priority, with the AV:N rating questionable for an extension-context escalation and worth verifying with Mozilla.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: upgrade to Firefox 158 (see https://www.mozilla.org/security/advisories/mfsa2026-106/ and https://www.mozilla.org/security/advisories/mfsa2026-109/); the reference at https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2049069 tracks the fix. Because exploitation requires an extension-level foothold, the highest-value compensating controls are extension-governance measures that remain useful even before fleet-wide upgrade: enforce an enterprise allowlist of vetted extensions through the ExtensionSettings policy and set installation_mode to blocked or allowed-list, which prevents malicious or sideloaded extensions from reaching the vulnerable path - the trade-off is administrative overhead and user requests for unapproved add-ons; disable sideloading and restrict install sources so unsigned or developer-mode extensions cannot be introduced - this may disrupt legitimate internal tooling that relies on unsigned builds; and reduce the number of installed extensions to the minimum necessary, since the control depends on how quickly unapproved add-ons appear in user profiles. These controls only reduce exposure and do not remove the underlying flaw, so upgrading to Firefox 158 (or the corresponding ESR build) remains the definitive fix; no public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, so emergency out-of-band action is not indicated, but the patch should be prioritized within normal browser maintenance cycles given the high CVSS impact ratings.

Affects your stack

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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The affected technology is Firefox's WebExtensions subsystem, the browser's extension platform built on a privilege-separated model in which extension content runs in a lower-privileged context than the browser chrome and is limited to permissions explicitly declared in the manifest and granted by the user or enterprise policy. CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management) indicates that the vulnerable code mishandles the granting, checking, or retention of privileges, so an extension can reach a code path that elevates it beyond its declared permission set - for example by crossing from the extension context into more trusted browser internals. The CPE cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:firefox:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* marks the entire Firefox product line as affected in the data provided, consistent with a fix landing in Firefox 158. Because the attack requires an installed extension as the execution context (PR:L) rather than a purely remote unauthenticated request, the AV:N component of the CVSS vector is the least certain part of the assessment and should be confirmed against Mozilla's own advisory (mfsa2026-106/mfsa2026-109, Bugzilla 2049069).

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (mozilla) PRIMARY 8.8 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI 8.8 HIGH

A low-privileged WebExtension context escalates privileges without user interaction (PR:L/UI:N/AC:L), yielding full C/I/A impact; AV:N retained per Mozilla though the real vector is extension-bound.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (mozilla).

CVSS VectorVendor: mozilla

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

3
CVSS changed
Oct 14, 2026 - 16:22 NVD
8.8 (HIGH)
CVE Published
Oct 13, 2026 - 12:29 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)
CVE Published
Oct 13, 2026 - 12:29 cve.org
HIGH 8.8

DescriptionCVE.org

Privilege escalation in the WebExtensions component. This vulnerability was fixed in Firefox 158.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Mozilla Firefox versions prior to 158 are affected by a high-severity privilege escalation flaw in the WebExtensions component, which could allow a malicious or compromised extension to access data and modify settings beyond its authorized scope. While no public exploit identified at time of analysis, the broad use of Firefox across the organization means security teams should verify version compliance and restrict untrusted extensions to mitigate potential data exposure and integrity loss.

Business Impact: Medium
Compensating Controls

No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: enforce strict extension allowlisting, disable untrusted or unnecessary extensions via enterprise policy, monitor for suspicious extension privilege escalation, and upgrade to Firefox 158 once released.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 96% exploitable
Prevalence
High
Firefox is a widely deployed mainstream desktop browser across enterprises
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
Medium

Priority Score

44
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +44
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:firefox:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
CVE-2013-0758 CRITICAL POC
9.3 Jan 13

Mozilla Firefox before 18.0, Firefox ESR 10.x before 10.0.12 and 17.x before 17.0.2, Thunderbird before 17.0.2, Thunderb

CVE-2013-0753 CRITICAL POC
9.3 Jan 13

Use-after-free vulnerability in the serializeToStream implementation in the XMLSerializer component in Mozilla Firefox b

CVE-2012-3993 CRITICAL POC
9.3 Oct 10

The Chrome Object Wrapper (COW) implementation in Mozilla Firefox before 16.0, Firefox ESR 10.x before 10.0.8, Thunderbi

CVE-2013-1710 CRITICAL POC
10.0 Aug 07

The crypto.generateCRMFRequest function in Mozilla Firefox before 23.0, Firefox ESR 17.x before 17.0.8, Thunderbird befo

CVE-2014-8636 HIGH POC
7.5 Jan 14

The XrayWrapper implementation in Mozilla Firefox before 35.0 and SeaMonkey before 2.32 does not properly interact with

CVE-2013-0757 CRITICAL POC
9.3 Jan 13

The Chrome Object Wrapper (COW) implementation in Mozilla Firefox before 18.0, Firefox ESR 17.x before 17.0.2, Thunderbi

CVE-2014-1510 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Mar 19

The Web IDL implementation in Mozilla Firefox before 28.0, Firefox ESR 24.x before 24.4, Thunderbird before 24.4, and Se

CVE-2014-1511 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Mar 19

Mozilla Firefox before 28.0, Firefox ESR 24.x before 24.4, Thunderbird before 24.4, and SeaMonkey before 2.25 allow remo

CVE-2016-1960 HIGH POC
8.8 Mar 13

Integer underflow in the nsHtml5TreeBuilder class in the HTML5 string parser in Mozilla Firefox before 45.0 and Firefox

CVE-2015-0816 MEDIUM POC
5.0 Apr 01

Mozilla Firefox before 37.0, Firefox ESR 31.x before 31.6, and Thunderbird before 31.6 do not properly restrict resource

CVE-2015-0802 MEDIUM POC
5.0 Apr 01

Mozilla Firefox before 37.0 relies on docshell type information instead of page principal information for Window.webidl

CVE-2013-2566 MEDIUM POC
5.9 Mar 15

The RC4 algorithm, as used in the TLS protocol and SSL protocol, has many single-byte biases, which makes it easier for

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