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Fencer Vulns
medium 6.5

CVE-2021-23985 json

If an attacker is able to alter specific about:config values (for example malware running on the user's computer), the Devtools remote debu…

published 2021-03-31 5 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2021-10905

cvss
6.5
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
1.5%
EPSS 1.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 74%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

If an attacker is able to alter specific about:config values (for example malware running on the user's computer), the Devtools remote debugging feature could have been enabled in a way that was unnoticable to the user. This would have allowed a remote attacker (able to make a direct network connection to the victim) to monitor the user's browsing activity and (plaintext) network traffic. This was addressed by providing a visual cue when Devtools has an open network socket. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 87.

Patch / fix

  • Mozilla Firefox 87
  • firefox Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 87.0+build3-0ubuntu0.16.04.2
  • firefox Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 87.0+build3-0ubuntu0.18.04.2
  • firefox Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 87.0+build3-0ubuntu0.20.04.2

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2021-23985

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • firefox-esr openSUSE Tumbleweed 128.5.1-1.1
  • MozillaFirefox openSUSE Tumbleweed 92.0-1.2

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:14572-1openSUSE-SU-2024:10600-1

  • firefox Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22, Alpine 3.21 +8 more 87.0-r0
  • librewolf Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +1 more 87.0-r0

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2021-23985

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • firefox Arch Linux 87.0-1

arch linux advisories AVG-1728

Exploit prediction

1.51% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 74% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.1 6.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
NVD 2.0 4.3 AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Affected products

  • Mozilla Firefox

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.