Firefox normally asks for confirmation before asking the operating system to find an application to handle a scheme that the browser does not support. It did not ask before doing so for the Usenet-related schemes news: and snews:. Since most operating systems don't have a trusted newsreader installed by default, an unscrupulous program that the user downloaded could register itself as a handler. The website that served the application download could then launch that application at will. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 130, Firefox ESR < 128.2, and Firefox ESR < 115.15.
2024-09-03T13:15:05.687
2025-11-04T17:16:17.430
Modified
CVSSv3.1: 7.5 (HIGH)
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | mozilla | firefox | < 130.0 | Yes |
| Application | mozilla | firefox_esr | < 115.15 | Yes |
| Application | mozilla | firefox_esr | < 128.2 | Yes |