The Firefox installer on Windows can be made to load malicious DLL files stored in the same directory as the installer when it is run. This allows privileged execution if the installer is run with elevated privileges. Note: This attack only affects Windows operating systems. Other operating systems are unaffected. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 54, Firefox ESR < 52.2, and Thunderbird < 52.2.
The product searches for critical resources using an externally-supplied search path that can point to resources that are not under the product’s direct control.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefox | Mozilla | * | 54.0 (excluding) |
| Firefox_esr | Mozilla | * | 52.2.0 (excluding) |
| Thunderbird | Mozilla | * | 52.2.0 (excluding) |
| Firefox | Ubuntu | upstream | * |
This might allow attackers to execute their own programs, access unauthorized data files, or modify configuration in unexpected ways. If the product uses a search path to locate critical resources such as programs, then an attacker could modify that search path to point to a malicious program, which the targeted product would then execute. The problem extends to any type of critical resource that the product trusts. Some of the most common variants of untrusted search path are: