CVE-2021-43528 json
Thunderbird unexpectedly enabled JavaScript in the composition area.
published 2021-12-08 4 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2021-30457
- cvss
- 6.5
- version 3.1, NVD
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 1.3%
- EPSS 1.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 70%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
Thunderbird unexpectedly enabled JavaScript in the composition area. The JavaScript execution context was limited to this area and did not receive chrome-level privileges, but could be used as a stepping stone to further an attack with other vulnerabilities. This vulnerability affects Thunderbird < 91.4.0.
Patch / fix
- Mozilla Thunderbird 91.4.0
- thunderbird Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 1:91.4.0-1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2021-43528
- thunderbird Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 1:91.5.0+build1-0ubuntu0.18.04.1
- thunderbird Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 1:91.5.0+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2021-43528
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
- thunderbird RHEL 8 91.4.0-2.el8_5
- thunderbird RHEL 7 91.4.0-3.el7_9
- thunderbird RHEL 8.1 E4S 91.4.0-2.el8_1
- thunderbird RHEL 8.2 EUS 91.4.0-2.el8_2
- thunderbird RHEL 8.4 EUS 91.4.0-2.el8_4
red hat advisories RHSA-2021:5055RHSA-2021:5047RHSA-2021:5048RHSA-2021:5045RHSA-2021:5046
- MozillaThunderbird SLE Workstation Extension 15 SP3, SLE Workstation Extension 15 SP2 91.4.0-8.45.2
suse advisories SUSE-SU-2021:4150-1
- MozillaThunderbird openSUSE Tumbleweed 91.4.0-1.1
- MozillaThunderbird openSUSE Leap 15.2 91.4.0-lp152.2.52.1
- MozillaThunderbird openSUSE Leap 15.3 91.4.0-8.45.2
opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:11670-1openSUSE-SU-2021:1635-1openSUSE-SU-2021:4150-1
- thunderbird AlmaLinux 8 91.4.0-2.el8_5.alma
- thunderbird AlmaLinux 8 91.4.0-2.el8_5.alma.plus
almalinux advisories ALSA-2021:5045
- thunderbird Rocky Linux 8 91.4.0-2.el8_5
rocky linux advisories RLSA-2021:5045
- thunderbird Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22, Alpine 3.21 +5 more 91.4.0-r0
alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2021-43528
Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
- thunderbird Arch Linux 91.4.0-1
arch linux advisories AVG-2608
Vendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2021-43528 updated cvss 6.3
Mozilla: JavaScript unexpectedly enabled for the composition area
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 thunderbirdaffected: no fix planned “Out of support scope”
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) thunderbird 91.4.0-2.el8_5fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:5045
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v. 8.1) thunderbird 91.4.0-2.el8_1fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:5055
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.2) thunderbird 91.4.0-2.el8_2fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:5047
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.8.4) thunderbird 91.4.0-2.el8_4fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:5048
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) thunderbird 91.4.0-3.el7_9 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) thunderbird 91.4.0-3.el7_9 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) thunderbird 91.4.0-3.el7_9fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:5046
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
Exploit prediction
1.31% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 70% 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:N/I:H/A:N |
| NVD | 2.0 | 4.3 | AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N |
Affected products
- Mozilla Thunderbird
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management
References
-
debian.org
/security/2022/dsa-5034
vendor-advisory, issue-tracking, third-party-advisory
-
security.gentoo.org
/glsa/202208-14
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
-
mozilla.org
/security/advisories/mfsa2021-54/
vendor-advisory
-
bugzilla.mozilla.org
/show_bug.cgi?id=1742579
broken-link, issue-tracking, permissions-required, vendor-advisory
-
lists.debian.org
/debian-lts-announce/2022/01/msg00001.html
mailing-list, third-party-advisory
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2021-43528
- NVD CVE-2021-43528
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.