Keystroke disclosure via fixed-address event strings
Published Dec 22, 2022 · Updated Apr 15, 2025
Side-channel exposure in Mozilla Firefox before 107, Firefox ESR before 102.5, and Thunderbird before 102.5 allows remote attackers to infer keystrokes. The DOM UI Events code stored keyboard-event strings such as KeyA at fixed, widely shared addresses, allowing Prime+Probe cache timing to distinguish referenced keys. A victim must generate keyboard events while the cache probe runs; successful exploitation reveals pressed keys without modifying data or interrupting the application.
Summary
What happened
Side-channel exposure in Mozilla Firefox before 107, Firefox ESR before 102.5, and Thunderbird before 102.5 allows remote attackers to infer keystrokes. The DOM UI Events code stored keyboard-event strings such as KeyA at fixed, widely shared addresses, allowing Prime+Probe cache timing to distinguish referenced keys. A victim must generate keyboard events while the cache probe runs; successful exploitation reveals pressed keys without modifying data or interrupting the application.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-45416
- Published
- Dec 22, 2022
- Updated
- Apr 15, 2025
- Vendor
- Mozilla
- Product
- Firefox
- Classifications
- CWE-203, T1056.001
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 22, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 15, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=unspecified <107
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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