How severe is CVE-2023-5171?

CVE-2023-5171 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2023-5171 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (59th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2023-5171?

CVE-2023-5171 primarily affects Mozilla Firefox. In total, 7 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2023-5171?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2023-5171 published?

CVE-2023-5171 was published on 2023-09-27 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2023-5171

CVE-2023-5171 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox with a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-416.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.5)
EPSS exploit prediction: 1% (59th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-416
Affected product: Mozilla Firefox
Published: 2023-09-27
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

During Ion compilation, a Garbage Collection could have resulted in a use-after-free condition, allowing an attacker to write two NUL bytes, and cause a potentially exploitable crash. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 118, Firefox ESR < 115.3, and Thunderbird < 115.3.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-5171?: During Ion compilation, a Garbage Collection could have resulted in a use-after-free condition, allowing an attacker to write two NUL bytes, and cause a potentially exploitable crash. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 118, Firefox ESR < 115.3, and Thunderbird < 115.3.
How severe is CVE-2023-5171?: CVE-2023-5171 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2023-5171 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (59th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2023-5171?: CVE-2023-5171 primarily affects Mozilla Firefox. In total, 7 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2023-5171?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2023-5171 published?: CVE-2023-5171 was published on 2023-09-27 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (7)

cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:firefox:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:firefox_esr:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:thunderbird:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:39:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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Other CWE-416 (Use After Free) vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-13782 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Use after free in Browser in Google Chrome prior to 150.0.7871.47 allowed a remote attacker who had compromised the…
CVE-2026-4725 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Sandbox escape due to use-after-free in the Graphics: Canvas2D component. This vulnerability was fixed in Firefox 149…
CVE-2026-4688 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Sandbox escape due to use-after-free in the Disability Access APIs component. This vulnerability was fixed in Firefox…
CVE-2025-24085 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): A use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3,…
CVE-2024-43102 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Concurrent removals of certain anonymous shared memory mappings by using the UMTX_SHM_DESTROY sub-request of…
CVE-2021-32495 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Radare2 has a use-after-free vulnerability in pyc parser's get_none_object function. Attacker can read freed memory…

Browse all CWE-416 (Use After Free) vulnerabilities →