# CVE-2007-4038: Command injection in n/a

> Remote attackers can execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in mailto URIs when Firefox invokes Thunderbird, requiring user interaction.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Jul 2007
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-3r6g-vgfw-328v

## What is CVE-2007-4038?

CVE-2007-4038 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, published on 27 Jul 2007. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Argument injection vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox before 2.0.0.5, when running on systems with Thunderbird 1.5 installed and certain URIs registered, allows remote attackers to conduct cross-browser scripting attacks and execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in a mailto URI, which are inserted into the command line that is created when invoking Thunderbird.exe, a similar issue to CVE-2007-3670.

Weakness: CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2007-4038?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird.

## How do I fix CVE-2007-4038?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2007-4038 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2007-4038 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Mozilla Firefox

- [CVE-2019-11708](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-11708/): Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird Sandbox Escape (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2010-3765](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3765/): Mozilla Multiple Products Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-26486](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-26486/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-26485](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-26485/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-11707](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-11707/): Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird Type Confusion (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2007-4038 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2007-4038 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, published on 27 Jul 2007. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2007-4038 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Mozilla Firefox. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-4038/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-4038/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2007-4038
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2007-4038
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2007-4038

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-4038/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.