# CVE-2022-3155: Security feature bypass in Thunderbird

> Thunderbird fails to set macOS quarantine attributes on email attachments, allowing malicious applications to execute without user confirmation.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 Dec 2022
- **Updated:** 15 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6gfq-p2cr-3q5j

## What is CVE-2022-3155?

CVE-2022-3155 is a high-severity vulnerability in Mozilla Thunderbird, published on 22 Dec 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

When saving or opening an email attachment on macOS, Thunderbird did not set attribute com.apple.quarantine on the received file. If the received file was an application and the user attempted to open it, then the application was started immediately without asking the user to confirm. This vulnerability affects Thunderbird < 102.3.

Weakness: CWE-276 (Incorrect Default Permissions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-3155?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mozilla Thunderbird.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-3155?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2022-3155 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-3155 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Mozilla Thunderbird

- [CVE-2026-92238](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-92238/): Ambiguous parsing of mail headers (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-84637](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-84637/): Calendar invitation attachments could launch local executables (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-43529](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43529/): Memory corruption in Thunderbird (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-11703](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-11703/): Memory corruption in Thunderbird (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-11704](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-11704/): Memory corruption in Thunderbird (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-3155 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-3155 is a high-severity vulnerability in Mozilla Thunderbird, published on 22 Dec 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-3155 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Mozilla Thunderbird. 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-2022-3155/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3155/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-3155
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-3155
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-3155

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3155/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.