Critical Mozilla Vulnerabilities Allow Remote Code Execution: High Severity Risks Explained
Mozilla has released Firefox 142 to address multiple high-severity security vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code remotely on affected systems. The security advisory, published on August 19, 2025, reveals nine distinct vulnerabilities, including sandbox escapes and memory safety bugs, with several classified as high-impact threats capable of enabling remote code execution (RCE). Key takeaways include the patching of nine vulnerabilities that enable remote code execution and sandbox escapes. Attackers can exploit memory corruption and security bypass vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code. An immediate upgrade to Firefox is required to prevent potential remote attacks.
Among the most critical vulnerabilities is CVE-2025-9179, a sandbox escape flaw in the Audio/Video GMP (Gecko Media Plugin) component, reported by security researcher Oskar. This vulnerability allows memory corruption within the heavily sandboxed GMP process, which handles encrypted media content, potentially enabling attackers to escalate privileges beyond standard content process restrictions. Another significant vulnerability is CVE-2025-9180, a same-origin policy bypass affecting the Graphics Canvas2D component, discovered by researcher Tom Van Goethem. This flaw undermines the web security model that prevents cross-origin resource access, allowing malicious websites to access sensitive data from other domains. Additionally, three separate memory safety vulnerabilities pose significant RCE risks, with CVE-2025-9187 affecting Firefox 141 and Thunderbird 141, while CVE-2025-9184 impacts multiple versions, including Firefox ESR 140.1 and Thunderbird ESR 140.1. The most widespread issue, CVE-2025-9185, affects several Extended Support Release (ESR) versions. Mozilla’s security team, including researchers Andy Leiserson, Maurice Dauer, Sebastian Hengst, and the Mozilla Fuzzing Team, identified these memory corruption bugs, which demonstrate clear evidence of exploitability for arbitrary code execution. Additional vulnerabilities include CVE-2025-9181, an uninitialized memory issue in the JavaScript Engine component, and several lower-severity issues affecting address bar spoofing and denial-of-service conditions in the WebRender graphics component.
Categories: Security Vulnerabilities, Remote Code Execution, Firefox Updates
Tags: Firefox, Security, Vulnerabilities, Remote Code Execution, Sandbox Escape, Memory Corruption, Same-Origin Policy, Denial-of-Service, JavaScript Engine, Upgrade