Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory 2006-05

Localstore.rdf XML injection through XULDocument.persist()

Announced
February 1, 2006
Reporter
moz_bug_r_a4
Impact
Critical
Products
Firefox, Mozilla Suite, SeaMonkey, Thunderbird
Fixed in
  • Firefox 1.0.8
  • Firefox 1.5.0.1
  • Mozilla Suite 1.7.13
  • SeaMonkey 1
  • Thunderbird 1.0.8
  • Thunderbird 1.5.0.2

Description

XULDocument.persist() did not validate the attribute name, allowing an attacker to inject XML into localstore.rdf that would be read and acted upon at startup. This could include JavaScript commands that would be run with the permissions of the browser.

Thunderbird could be vulnerable if JavaScript is enabled. This is not the default setting and we strongly discourage users from turning on JavaScript in mail. Thunderbird is not vulnerable in its default configuration.

Update (13 April 2006)
This flaw has been fixed in Thunderbird 1.5.0.2

Updated versions of Firefox 1.0, Thunderbird 1.0, and the Mozilla Suite 1.7 have been released containing this fix.

Workaround

Upgrade to the fixed versions. Do not enable JavaScript in Thunderbird or SeaMonkey mail.

References