CVE-2023-4583
High · 7.5CVSS
7.5
EPSS
0.7%
Published
Sep 11, 2023
CISA due date
—
Cloudanix analysis
Monitor only
SSVC: Track
A flaw in how the browser handles private browsing sessions after they close could let someone continue actions that should have been blocked, risking unauthorized changes to browsing data.
- Exploitation
- Remote Unauthenticated
- Attacker needs
- None
- Complexity
- Low
- Impact
- Data Tampering
- Component
- Application
- Class
- Authorization Bypass
- Remediation
- Upgrade
- Effort
- Medium
- Patch risk
- Low
What it actually does
Incorrect discarded-state check in HttpBaseChannel allows a private browsing context to remain active after the private session ends when the load group is unavailable, bypassing intended channel authorization and isolation controls.
Why it matters to the business
Attackers can perform unauthorized actions against private browsing data or sessions, potentially leading to integrity violations on user activity without requiring authentication.
How an attack unfolds
An attacker crafts a network request or script that triggers HttpBaseChannel after a private session closure; the missing load-group check causes the code to treat the context as discarded and skips authorization enforcement, allowing the request to proceed with elevated or unintended privileges.
How to fix it
Upgrade Firefox to 117 or later, Firefox ESR to 115.2 or later, and Thunderbird to 115.2 or later. Apply vendor patches immediately; no configuration workarounds fully mitigate the flaw.
How to confirm the fix worked
Confirm browser and ESR versions meet or exceed the fixed releases listed above; re-test private browsing session termination to ensure channels are properly discarded and authorized.
Typical attack path
- Identify target using vulnerable Firefox or Thunderbird private browsing
- Trigger private session termination while maintaining a reference to an active HttpBaseChannel
- Send a follow-up request that exercises the flawed discarded-state logic
- Bypass authorization checks and perform unauthorized actions on the channel
How to detect it
Review browser process logs and network telemetry for unexpected channel activity after private session termination; correlate with private browsing indicators in crash reports or extension logs.
What your security team should do
- Prioritize patching all Firefox, ESR, and Thunderbird instances to the fixed versions
- Monitor for any post-patch reports of private-browsing channel reuse
- Review internal policies on private browsing usage until patches are deployed
The record
When checking if the Browsing Context had been discarded in `HttpBaseChannel`, if the load group was not available then it was assumed to have already been discarded which was not always the case for private channels after the private session had ended. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 117, Firefox ESR < 115.2, and Thunderbird < 115.2.
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Introduced | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlmaLinux:8 | firefox | 0 | 102.15.0-1.el8_8.alma |
| AlmaLinux:8 | thunderbird | 0 | 102.15.0-1.el8_8.alma |
| AlmaLinux:9 | firefox | 0 | 102.15.0-1.el9_2.alma |
| AlmaLinux:9 | firefox-x11 | 0 | 102.15.0-1.el9_2.alma |
| AlmaLinux:9 | thunderbird | 0 | 102.15.0-1.el9_2.alma |
| Debian:13 | firefox-esr | 0 | 115.2.0esr-1 |
| Debian:13 | thunderbird | 0 | 1:115.2.0-1 |
| Mageia:8 | firefox | 0 | 102.15.1-1.mga8 |
| Mageia:8 | firefox-l10n | 0 | 102.15.1-1.mga8 |
| Mageia:8 | nss | 0 | 3.93.0-1.mga8 |
| Mageia:8 | rootcerts | 0 | 20230720.00-1.mga8 |
| Mageia:8 | thunderbird | 0 | 102.15.1-1.mga8 |
| Mageia:8 | thunderbird-l10n | 0 | 102.15.1-1.mga8 |
| Mageia:9 | firefox | 0 | 115.2.1-1.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | firefox-l10n | 0 | 115.2.1-1.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | nss | 0 | 3.93.0-1.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | rootcerts | 0 | 20230720.00-1.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | thunderbird | 0 | 115.2.2-1.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | thunderbird-l10n | 0 | 115.2.2-1.mga9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el7_9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | firefox-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | thunderbird-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_2 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_2 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | firefox-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_2 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | firefox-x11 | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_2 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_2 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_2 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | thunderbird-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::appstream | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::appstream | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::appstream | firefox-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::appstream | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::appstream | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.2::appstream | thunderbird-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.4::appstream | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.4::appstream | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.4::appstream | firefox-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.4::appstream | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.4::appstream | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_aus:8.4::appstream | thunderbird-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.1::appstream | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_1 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.1::appstream | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_1 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.1::appstream | firefox-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_1 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.1::appstream | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_1 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.1::appstream | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_1 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.1::appstream | thunderbird-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_1 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.2::appstream | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.2::appstream | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.2::appstream | firefox-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.2::appstream | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.2::appstream | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.2::appstream | thunderbird-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.4::appstream | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.4::appstream | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.4::appstream | firefox-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.4::appstream | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.4::appstream | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.4::appstream | thunderbird-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.6::appstream | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_6 |
| Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.6::appstream | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_6 |
| Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.6::appstream | firefox-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_6 |
| Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.0::appstream | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_0 |
| Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.0::appstream | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_0 |
| Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.0::appstream | firefox-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_0 |
| Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.0::appstream | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_0 |
| Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.0::appstream | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_0 |
| Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.0::appstream | thunderbird-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el9_0 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.2::appstream | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.2::appstream | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.2::appstream | firefox-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.2::appstream | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.2::appstream | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.2::appstream | thunderbird-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_2 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.4::appstream | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.4::appstream | firefox-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.4::appstream | firefox-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.4::appstream | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.4::appstream | thunderbird-debuginfo | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Red Hat:rhel_tus:8.4::appstream | thunderbird-debugsource | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_4 |
| Rocky Linux:8 | firefox | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_8 |
| Rocky Linux:8 | thunderbird | 0 | 0:102.15.0-1.el8_8 |
| SUSE:Enterprise Storage 7 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| SUSE:Enterprise Storage 7.1 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-LTSS | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150000.150.100.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-LTSS | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-ESPOS | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-LTSS | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP4 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP5 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Package Hub 15 SP4 | MozillaThunderbird | 0 | 115.2.2-150200.8.130.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Package Hub 15 SP5 | MozillaThunderbird | 0 | 115.2.2-150200.8.130.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-112.176.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150000.150.100.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-112.176.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150000.150.100.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP2 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP3 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-112.176.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP4 | MozillaThunderbird | 0 | 115.2.2-150200.8.130.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP5 | MozillaThunderbird | 0 | 115.2.2-150200.8.130.1 |
| Ubuntu:18.04:LTS | mozjs38 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:18.04:LTS | mozjs52 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:20.04:LTS | firefox | 0 | 117.0+build2-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 |
| Ubuntu:20.04:LTS | mozjs52 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:20.04:LTS | mozjs68 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:20.04:LTS | thunderbird | 0 | 1:115.3.1+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | mozjs102 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | mozjs78 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | mozjs91 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | thunderbird | 0 | 1:115.3.1+build1-0ubuntu0.22.04.2 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | mozjs102 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS | mozjs38 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS | mozjs52 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS | mozjs52 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS | mozjs68 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:Pro:22.04:LTS | mozjs78 | 0 | No fix |
| Ubuntu:Pro:24.04:LTS | mozjs102 | 0 | No fix |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.4 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.4 | MozillaThunderbird | 0 | 115.2.2-150200.8.130.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.5 | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 115.2.0-150200.152.102.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.5 | MozillaThunderbird | 0 | 115.2.2-150200.8.130.1 |
| openSUSE:Tumbleweed | MozillaFirefox | 0 | 117.0-1.1 |
| openSUSE:Tumbleweed | MozillaThunderbird | 0 | 115.2.0-1.1 |
| openSUSE:Tumbleweed | firefox-esr | 0 | 128.5.1-1.1 |
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