CVE-2023-5176
CWE-787Published: September 27, 2023· Updated: Jun 17, 2026
Official Description
Memory safety bugs present in Firefox 117, Firefox ESR 115.2, and Thunderbird 115.2. Some of these bugs showed evidence of memory corruption and we presume that with enough effort some of these could have been exploited to run arbitrary code. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 118, Firefox ESR < 115.3, and Thunderbird < 115.3.
Risk Analysis
Firefox, Firefox ESR, and Thunderbird contain memory safety vulnerabilities that could lead to memory corruption. These flaws could be exploited by an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the host system.
No public exploit is known, and it is not in KEV. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable with low complexity.
Update to Firefox 118, Firefox ESR 115.3, or Thunderbird 115.3 or later.
Technical Analysis
CVE-2023-5176 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.
The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.
A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 9.8.
From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-787): Out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities can lead to data corruption, crashes, or arbitrary code execution.
CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown
Affected Vendors & Products
Exploit & PoC Resources
Official Patches & Advisories
All References (16)
Quick Facts
Related CVEs (CWE-787)
Recommended Actions
- →Apply vendor patches immediately
- →Monitor CVE-2023-5176 in threat intel feeds
- →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts