# CVE-2015-2720: Path traversal in n/a

> Local attackers can gain privileges by exploiting a path validation flaw in the Firefox updater on Windows.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.4 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 May 2015
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mmqm-9qw8-9hc9

## What is CVE-2015-2720?

CVE-2015-2720 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, published on 14 May 2015. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The update implementation in Mozilla Firefox before 38.0 on Windows does not ensure that the pathname for updater.exe corresponds to the application directory, which might allow local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse file.

Weakness: CWE-17

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-2720?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mozilla Firefox.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-2720?

No fix has been published for CVE-2015-2720 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2015-2720 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-2720 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-2015-2720 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-2720 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, published on 14 May 2015. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-2720 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-2015-2720/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2720/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-2720
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-2720
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-2720

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2720/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.