Firefox: Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity
CVE-2024-5699 is a critical-severity improper handling of case sensitivity vulnerability in Firefox from Mozilla, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. The record lists version 127 as the first without the flaw, so updating Firefox to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.77% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 56% of scored CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Update Firefox to 127 or a later version.
- Read the advisory on mozilla.org for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CISA (ADP).
Official description
In violation of spec, cookie prefixes such as `__Secure` were being ignored if they were not correctly capitalized - by spec they should be checked with a case-insensitive comparison. This could have resulted in the browser not correctly honoring the behaviors specified by the prefix. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 127.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity
The product does not properly account for differences in case sensitivity when accessing or determining the properties of a resource, leading to inconsistent results.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Avoid making decisions based on names of resources (e.g. files) if those resources can have alternate names.
- Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.
More Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity vulnerabilities (CWE-178)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Technical write-ups (may include proof of concept)
- bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1891349Exploit, Issue Tracking
Other vulnerabilities in Firefox
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
Recent Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity vulnerabilities
- 7.5 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
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