NVD / CVE Program· CNA mozilla

CVE-2016-9898: Use-after-free resulting in potentially exploitable crash when manipulating DOM subtrees in the Editor.

CriticalCVSS 9.8 · v3.0—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Plan (action score 40/100)

The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 3.4% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 89.1% of all records.
Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
Fixed version: firefox-esr (Alpine:v3.4) 45.6.0; firefox-esr (Debian:12) 45.6.0esr-1; firefox-esr (Debian:7) 45.6.0esr-1~deb7u1.

Add it to your regular patch cycle. Upgrade to firefox-esr (Alpine:v3.4) 45.6.0; firefox-esr (Debian:12) 45.6.0esr-1; firefox-esr (Debian:7) 45.6.0esr-1~deb7u1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Use-after-free resulting in potentially exploitable crash when manipulating DOM subtrees in the Editor. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 50.1, Firefox ESR < 45.6, and Thunderbird < 45.6.

Published: Jun 11, 2018
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
EPSS: 3.4% · 89th percentile
CWE: CWE-416

Report tools

JSON

Action score

Plan

Add it to your regular patch cycle.

CVSS: 39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
CISA KEV: 0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS: 1 / 30 · 3.4%

Get told when this record changes

Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
No public exploit code on record
A fix has been released

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

Vendor	Product	CPE
debian	debian linux	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux
redhat	enterprise linux	cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux
redhat	enterprise linux desktop	cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop
redhat	enterprise linux server	cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server
redhat	enterprise linux server aus	cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus
redhat	enterprise linux server eus	cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus
redhat	enterprise linux workstation	cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation
mozilla	thunderbird	cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:thunderbird
mozilla	firefox	cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:firefox

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (mozilla). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

Mozilla Firefox
- unspecified and later · before 50.1affected
Mozilla Firefox ESR
- unspecified and later · before 45.6affected
Mozilla Thunderbird
- unspecified and later · before 45.6affected

Affected versions · NVD (20)

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

debian debian linux9.0
mozilla firefoxbefore 45.6.0
mozilla firefoxbefore 50.1.0
mozilla thunderbirdbefore 45.6.0
redhat enterprise linux5.0
redhat enterprise linux6.0
redhat enterprise linux7.0
redhat enterprise linux desktop5.0
redhat enterprise linux desktop6.0
redhat enterprise linux desktop7.0
redhat enterprise linux server5.0
redhat enterprise linux server6.0
redhat enterprise linux server7.0
redhat enterprise linux server aus7.3
redhat enterprise linux server aus7.4
redhat enterprise linux server eus7.3
redhat enterprise linux server eus7.4
redhat enterprise linux server eus7.5
redhat enterprise linux workstation5.0
redhat enterprise linux workstation6.0

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

Ecosystem	Package	Affected range	Fix
Alpine:v3.4	firefox-esr	before 45.6.0	45.6.0
Debian:12	firefox-esr	before 45.6.0esr-1	45.6.0esr-1
Debian:7	firefox-esr	before 45.6.0esr-1~deb7u1	45.6.0esr-1~deb7u1
Debian:7	icedove	before 1:45.6.0-2~deb7u1	1:45.6.0-2~deb7u1
Debian:8	firefox-esr	before 45.6.0esr-1~deb8u1	45.6.0esr-1~deb8u1
Debian:8	icedove	before 1:45.6.0-1~deb8u1	1:45.6.0-1~deb8u1
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client	firefox	before 0:45.6.0-1.el5_11	0:45.6.0-1.el5_11
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client	firefox-debuginfo	before 0:45.6.0-1.el5_11	0:45.6.0-1.el5_11
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client	firefox	before 0:45.6.0-1.el6_8	0:45.6.0-1.el6_8
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client	firefox-debuginfo	before 0:45.6.0-1.el6_8	0:45.6.0-1.el6_8
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	firefox	before 0:45.6.0-1.el7_3	0:45.6.0-1.el7_3
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	firefox-debuginfo	before 0:45.6.0-1.el7_3	0:45.6.0-1.el7_3
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1	MozillaFirefox	before 45.6.0esr-96.1	45.6.0esr-96.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2-LTSS	MozillaFirefox	before 45.6.0esr-66.1	45.6.0esr-66.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 11 SP4	MozillaFirefox	before 45.6.0esr-62.1	45.6.0esr-62.1
SUSE:Package Hub 12	MozillaThunderbird	before 45.6.0-20.1	45.6.0-20.1

Same product

debian: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

CVE-2016-9079A use-after-free vulnerability in SVG Animation has been discovered.KEV
86Now
CVE-2024-44308The issue was addressed with improved checks.KEV
68This week
CVE-2021-25216A second vulnerability in BIND's GSSAPI security policy negotiation can be targeted by a buffer overflow attack
64This week

Published before and after this one in the same product

← EarlierCVE-2016-9893Jun 11, 2018 · Memory safety bugs were reported in Thunderbird 45.5.
40Plan
← EarlierCVE-2016-9895Jun 11, 2018 · Event handlers on "marquee" elements were executed despite a strict Content Security Policy (CSP) that disallowed inline JavaScript.
25Monitor
Later →CVE-2016-9899Jun 11, 2018 · Use-after-free while manipulating DOM events and removing audio elements due to errors in the handling of node adoption.
45Plan

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / package	Fixed version	Source
alpine:firefox-esr	45.6.0 · Alpine:v3.4	Package registry (OSV)
debian:firefox-esr	45.6.0esr-1 · Debian:12	Package registry (OSV)
debian:icedove	1:45.6.0-2~deb7u1 · Debian:7	Package registry (OSV)
red hat:firefox	0:45.6.0-1.el5_11 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client	Package registry (OSV)
red hat:firefox-debuginfo	0:45.6.0-1.el5_11 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client	Package registry (OSV)
suse:MozillaFirefox	45.6.0esr-62.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 11 SP4	Package registry (OSV)
suse:MozillaThunderbird	45.6.0-20.1 · SUSE:Package Hub 12	Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
No account or password is required.
No user action is required.
No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality: high · data can be read
Integrity: high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability: high · the service can be disrupted

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: None
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality impact: High
Integrity impact: High
Availability impact: High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-416 · Use After Free

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

After a memory region is freed, another reference pointing to it is still used. By then, the same region may have been allocated for different data.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-416 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

1free(dev->buf);
2/* ... another thread is still running ... */
3process(dev->buf);

Fixed

1lock(&dev->lock);
2free(dev->buf);
3dev->buf = NULL;
4unlock(&dev->lock);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log (1)

Fix✗ → ✓Sep 28, 2026, 10:47 PM UTC

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2946.html

Show all references (7 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

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