CVE-2019-17009Public exploit

Local exploitation via unrestricted updater files

Published Jan 8, 2020 · Updated Aug 5, 2024

Improper file permissions in Firefox before 71, Firefox ESR before 68.3, and Thunderbird before 68.3 allow local users to exploit updater file handling. The Windows updater service writes status and log files to an unrestricted location, where unprivileged processes can locate and manipulate them. Exploitation requires local access while the updater runs; Mozilla has not published the resulting file-handling impact, and other platforms are unaffected.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.33%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper file permissions in Firefox before 71, Firefox ESR before 68.3, and Thunderbird before 68.3 allow local users to exploit updater file handling. The Windows updater service writes status and log files to an unrestricted location, where unprivileged processes can locate and manipulate them. Exploitation requires local access while the updater runs; Mozilla has not published the resulting file-handling impact, and other platforms are unaffected.

The record

CVE
CVE-2019-17009
Published
Jan 8, 2020
Updated
Aug 5, 2024
Vendor
Mozilla
Product
Firefox
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 8, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 5, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=before 71

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Mozilla · Firefoxversion=before 71
Mozilla · Thunderbirdversion=before 68.3
Mozilla · Firefox ESRversion=before 68.3

Published CVSS scores

4.6NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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