# CVE-2008-5715: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash Mozilla Firefox or cause hangs by sending JavaScript with a long location.hash value, requiring user interaction to visit a malicious page.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **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:** No
- **Published:** 24 Dec 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4483-hx63-9239

## What is CVE-2008-5715?

CVE-2008-5715 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, published on 24 Dec 2008. 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

Mozilla Firefox 3.0.5 on Windows Vista allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via JavaScript code with a long string value for the hash property (aka location.hash). NOTE: it was later reported that earlier versions are also affected, and that the impact is CPU consumption and application hang in unspecified circumstances perhaps involving other platforms.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-5715?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mozilla Firefox.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-5715?

No fix has been published for CVE-2008-5715 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2008-5715 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-5715 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Mozilla Firefox 3.0.5 - location.hash Remote Crash (exploitdb)

## 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-2008-5715 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-5715 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, published on 24 Dec 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-5715 exists.

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-2008-5715/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5715/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-5715
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-5715
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-5715

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-5715/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.