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ExploitedIn CISA KEVFix available

CVE-2016-9079

Exploitation confirmed. First attested on 2023-06-22 by CISA-ADP, CISA KEV, GCVE · kevintel.

  • Published2018-06-11
  • WeaknessCWE-416

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

A use-after-free vulnerability in SVG Animation has been discovered. An exploit built on this vulnerability has been discovered in the wild targeting Firefox and Tor Browser users on Windows. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 50.0.2, Firefox ESR < 45.5.1, and Thunderbird < 45.5.1.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2017-01-24Exploit-DB entryExploit-DB
  2. 2018-06-1121:29CVE publishedNVD
  3. 2023-06-22Added to the CISA KEV catalogCISA KEV
  4. 2023-06-22Listed as exploited by GCVEGCVE
  5. 2023-06-22Exploitation first reportedCISA KEV
  6. 2025-02-0712:50SSVC exploitation set to activeCISA-ADP

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-11-04 09:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2016-9079?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2016-9079?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Redhat enterprise linux
BranchAffectedFixed in
5.0= 5.0no fix published
6.0= 6.0no fix published
7.0= 7.0no fix published
Redhat enterprise linux desktop
BranchAffectedFixed in
5.0= 5.0no fix published
6.0= 6.0no fix published
7.0= 7.0no fix published
Redhat enterprise linux server
BranchAffectedFixed in
5.0= 5.0no fix published
6.0= 6.0no fix published
7.0= 7.0no fix published

7 more products in the sources.

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Products declared by the CNA3 products

As mozilla, the CNA that assigned this CVE, declared them in the CVE record; versions as written.

  • Mozilla Firefox
    Affected
    • < 50.0.2fixed in 50.0.2custom
  • Mozilla Firefox ESR
    Affected
    • < 45.5.1fixed in 45.5.1custom
  • Mozilla Thunderbird
    Affected
    • < 45.5.1fixed in 45.5.1custom

Source: the CNA record (CVE Program), © The MITRE Corporation,CVE Terms of UseCVE recordupdated 2018-06-12

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • firefoxUbuntu:16.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 50.0.2+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1
  • firefoxUbuntu:14.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 50.0.2+build1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1
  • firefoxRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstationall versions · fixed in 0:45.5.1-1.el7_3and 3 other packages
  • firefoxRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::serverall versions · fixed in 0:45.5.1-1.el7_3and 3 other packages
  • firefoxRed Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientall versions · fixed in 0:45.5.1-1.el7_3and 3 other packages
  • firefoxRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstationall versions · fixed in 0:45.5.1-1.el6_8and 3 other packages
  • firefoxRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::serverall versions · fixed in 0:45.5.1-1.el6_8and 3 other packages
  • firefoxRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenodeall versions · fixed in 0:45.5.1-1.el6_8and 1 other package

50 more package ranges on OSV.dev

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2016-9079 Red Hat Product Security273 products fixed

    Mozilla: Firefox SVG Animation Remote Code Execution (MFSA 2016-92)

  • RHSA-2016:2850 Red Hat Product Security42 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: thunderbird security update

  • RHSA-2016:2843 Red Hat Product Security77 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: firefox security update

Full record on NVD

Fix

  1. CISA’s required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.due 2023-07-13
  2. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2016:2850 · 42 productsFor details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258 All running instances of Thunderbird must be restarted for the update to take effect.
  3. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2016:2843 · 77 productsFor details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258 After installing the update, Firefox must be restarted for the changes to take effect.

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-11-03 22:42 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
EDB-41151EDB-42327
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
4 repositories, unverifiedLakshmiDesai/CVE-2016-9079dangokyo/CVE-2016-9079soham23/firefox-rce-nssmilTau-hub/Firefox-CVE-2016-9079
PoC-in-GitHub
Metasploit modules
1 moduleexploit/windows/browser/firefox_smil_uafrank: normalModule metadata: Metasploit Framework, © Rapid7, Inc., BSD-3-Clause.
Metasploit Framework

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
2023-06-22
Patch Due Date
2023-07-13
Ransomware Use
Unknown
Required Action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Published
2018-06-11
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Analyzed
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-cmgc-v5fc-wx68

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-9079?

A use-after-free vulnerability in SVG Animation has been discovered. An exploit built on this vulnerability has been discovered in the wild targeting Firefox and Tor Browser users on Windows. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 50.0.2, Firefox ESR < 45.5.1, and Thunderbird < 45.5.1.

Is CVE-2016-9079 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2016-9079 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild. CISA requires federal agencies to patch by 2023-07-13.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2016-9079?

CVE-2016-9079 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

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Sources for this record