CVE-2016-5294 Path traversal in Firefox
Local attackers can manipulate the Mozilla Updater to write files to arbitrary directories, potentially leading to code execution on Windows systems.
- 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
What is CVE-2016-5294?
CVE-2016-5294 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, published on 11 Jun 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
The Mozilla Updater can be made to choose an arbitrary target working directory for output files resulting from the update process. This vulnerability requires local system access. Note: this issue only affects Windows operating systems. This vulnerability affects Thunderbird < 45.5, Firefox ESR < 45.5, and Firefox < 50.
Weakness: CWE-20
Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-5294?
It affects 2 products.
Products include Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird.
How do I fix CVE-2016-5294?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2016-5294 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-5294 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Mozilla Firefox
Sources
Also known as GHSA-pwq7-q338-mgmf.