CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2021-23999

HIGH
8.8
CVSS v3
NVD

Description

If a Blob URL was loaded through some unusual user interaction, it could have been loaded by the System Principal and granted additional privileges that should not be granted to web content. This vulnerability affects Firefox ESR < 78.10, Thunderbird < 78.10, and Firefox < 88.

How to fix

Remediation Available
thunderbirdAmazon
Fixed in:0:78.10.0-1.amzn2.0.1
Fixed in:0:78.10.0-1.amzn2.0.1
thunderbird-debuginfoAmazon
Fixed in:0:78.10.0-1.amzn2.0.1
Fixed in:0:78.10.0-1.amzn2.0.1
firefoxDebian
Fixed in:88.0-1CVE-2021-23999
firefoxUbuntu
Fixed in:88.0+build2-0ubuntu0.16.04.1USN-4926-1

This Ubuntu release reached end-of-life on 2021-04-02.

Fixed in:88.0+build2-0ubuntu0.18.04.2USN-4926-1

This Ubuntu release reached end-of-life on 2023-05-31. Extended security maintenance is available until 2028-04-01.

Fixed in:88.0+build2-0ubuntu0.20.04.1USN-4926-1

This Ubuntu release reached end-of-life on 2025-05-31. Extended security maintenance is available until 2030-04-02.

thunderbirdUbuntu
Fixed in:1:78.11.0+build1-0ubuntu0.18.04.2USN-4995-2

This Ubuntu release reached end-of-life on 2023-05-31. Extended security maintenance is available until 2028-04-01.

Fixed in:1:78.11.0+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.2USN-4995-1

This Ubuntu release reached end-of-life on 2025-05-31. Extended security maintenance is available until 2030-04-02.

Firefox Developer Edition (en-US)Windows application
Affected:88.0Fixed in:88.0Mozilla
Mozilla Firefox (en-US)Windows application
Affected:88.0Fixed in:88.0Mozilla
Mozilla Firefox ESR (en-US)Windows application
Affected:78.10Fixed in:78.10Mozilla
Mozilla Thunderbird (en-US)Windows application
Affected:78.10Fixed in:78.10Mozilla

TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works

Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.

CVSS v3 Vector

Exploitability

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionRequired
ScopeUnchanged

Impact

ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploit Intelligence

1.28%probability of exploitation in 30 days
68thpercentile

Moderate risk: more likely to be exploited than 68% of all known CVEs.

References

Related Vulnerabilities

Other CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all

CVESeverityCVSSEPSSExploitedFix
CVE-2017-12635Critical9.8100%-Fix
CVE-2022-24637Critical9.899%-Fix
CVE-2017-5689Critical9.892%KEVFix
CVE-2020-3243Critical9.888%--
CVE-2024-21888High8.887%--
CVE-2022-0441Critical9.885%-Fix

Common questions

How do I fix CVE-2021-23999?

Published advisories record a fix for 9 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.

Is CVE-2021-23999 being actively exploited?

Not that we know of. CVE-2021-23999 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 1.3% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 68% of all scored CVEs.

How severe is CVE-2021-23999?

CVE-2021-23999 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.8, rated high. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.

What does CVE-2021-23999 affect?

Published advisories record a fix for thunderbird (Amazon), thunderbird-debuginfo (Amazon), firefox (Debian), firefox (Ubuntu), and 5 more. Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.

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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-06-17.