Improperly initialized memory and overflows in some JavaScript functions

Related Vulnerabilities: CVE-2013-5595  

Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory 2013-96

Improperly initialized memory and overflows in some JavaScript functions

Announced
October 29, 2013
Reporter
Dan Gohman
Impact
Moderate
Products
Firefox, Firefox ESR, SeaMonkey, Thunderbird, Thunderbird ESR
Fixed in
  • Firefox 25
  • Firefox ESR 17.0.10
  • Firefox ESR 24.1
  • SeaMonkey 2.22
  • Thunderbird 24.1
  • Thunderbird ESR 17.0.10

Description

Compiler Engineer Dan Gohman of Google discovered a flaw in the JavaScript engine where memory was being incorrectly allocated for some functions and the calls for allocations were not always properly checked for overflow, leading to potential buffer overflows. When combined with other vulnerabilities, these flaws could be potentially exploitable.

In general this flaw cannot be exploited through email in the Thunderbird and Seamonkey products because scripting is disabled, but is potentially a risk in browser or browser-like contexts.

References