CVE-2025-5986
CVE-2025-5986 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Mozilla Thunderbird 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-451.
Key facts
- Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.5)
- EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (37th percentile)
- Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
- EU (EUVD) id: EUVD-2025-18099
- Weakness: CWE-451
- Affected product: Mozilla Thunderbird
- Published:
- Last modified:
Description
A crafted HTML email using mailbox:/// links can trigger automatic, unsolicited downloads of .pdf files to the user's desktop or home directory without prompting, even if auto-saving is disabled. This behavior can be abused to fill the disk with garbage data (e.g. using /dev/urandom on Linux) or to leak Windows credentials via SMB links when the email is viewed in HTML mode. While user interaction is required to download the .pdf file, visual obfuscation can conceal the download trigger. Viewing the email in HTML mode is enough to load external content. This vulnerability was fixed in Thunderbird 128.11.1 and Thunderbird 139.0.2.
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-5986?
- A crafted HTML email using mailbox:/// links can trigger automatic, unsolicited downloads of .pdf files to the user's desktop or home directory without prompting, even if auto-saving is disabled. This behavior can be abused to fill the disk with garbage data (e.g. using /dev/urandom on Linux) or to leak Windows credentials via SMB links when the email is viewed in HTML mode. While user interaction is required to download the .pdf file, visual obfuscation can conceal the download trigger. Viewing the email in HTML mode is enough to load external content. This vulnerability was fixed in Thunderbird 128.11.1 and Thunderbird 139.0.2.
- How severe is CVE-2025-5986?
- CVE-2025-5986 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-2025-5986 being actively exploited?
- It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (37th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
- What products are affected by CVE-2025-5986?
- CVE-2025-5986 affects Mozilla Thunderbird. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
- How do I fix CVE-2025-5986?
- Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
- Does CVE-2025-5986 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?
- Yes. CVE-2025-5986 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-18099.
- When was CVE-2025-5986 published?
- CVE-2025-5986 was published on 2025-06-11 and last updated on 2026-06-17.
References
- https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?bug_id=1958580%2C1968012
- https://www.mozilla.org/security/advisories/mfsa2025-49/
- https://www.mozilla.org/security/advisories/mfsa2025-50/
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/07/msg00002.html
Affected products (1)
- cpe:2.3:a:mozilla:thunderbird:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
More vulnerabilities in Mozilla Thunderbird
- CVE-2026-4692 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Sandbox escape in the Responsive Design Mode component. This vulnerability was fixed in Firefox 149, Firefox ESR…
- CVE-2026-4689 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Sandbox escape due to incorrect boundary conditions, integer overflow in the XPCOM component. This vulnerability was…
- CVE-2026-2778 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Sandbox escape due to incorrect boundary conditions in the DOM: Core & HTML component. This vulnerability was fixed in…
- CVE-2026-2776 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Sandbox escape due to incorrect boundary conditions in the Telemetry component in External Software. This vulnerability…
- CVE-2026-2768 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Sandbox escape in the Storage: IndexedDB component. This vulnerability was fixed in Firefox 148, Firefox ESR 140.8,…
- CVE-2026-2761 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Sandbox escape in the Graphics: WebRender component. This vulnerability was fixed in Firefox 148, Firefox ESR 115.33,…
All CVEs affecting Mozilla Thunderbird →
Other CWE-451 vulnerabilities
- CVE-2026-2634 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Malicious scripts could cause desynchronization between the address bar and web content before a response is received…
- CVE-2026-0907 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Incorrect security UI in Split View in Google Chrome prior to 144.0.7559.59 allowed a remote attacker to perform UI…
- CVE-2026-0906 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Incorrect security UI in Google Chrome on Android prior to 144.0.7559.59 allowed a remote attacker to spoof the…
- CVE-2025-8043 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Focus incorrectly truncated URLs towards the beginning instead of around the origin. This vulnerability was fixed in…
- CVE-2026-11175 — High (CVSS 8.8): Incorrect security UI in Messages in Google Chrome on Android prior to 149.0.7827.53 allowed a remote attacker to…
- CVE-2026-11172 — High (CVSS 8.8): Incorrect security UI in Contact Picker in Google Chrome on Android prior to 149.0.7827.53 allowed a remote attacker to…