# CVE-2022-22753: Race condition in Firefox

> A race condition in the Firefox updater allows attackers to gain write access to arbitrary directories, potentially escalating privileges to SYSTEM.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 Dec 2022
- **Updated:** 16 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-pr6h-wqwg-8wxx

## What is CVE-2022-22753?

CVE-2022-22753 is a high-severity vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, published on 22 Dec 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A Time-of-Check Time-of-Use bug existed in the Maintenance (Updater) Service that could be abused to grant Users write access to an arbitrary directory. This could have been used to escalate to SYSTEM access.<br>*This bug only affects Firefox on Windows. Other operating systems are unaffected.*. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 97, Thunderbird < 91.6, and Firefox ESR < 91.6.

Weakness: CWE-367 (Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-22753?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Firefox Esr, Mozilla Thunderbird.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-22753?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2022-22753 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-22753 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-2022-22753 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-22753 is a high-severity vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, published on 22 Dec 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-22753 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-2022-22753/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-22753/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-22753
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-22753
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-22753

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-22753/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.