CVE-2018-12402 : Vulnerability Insights and Analysis

A vulnerability in Firefox versions prior to 63 could allow a malicious page to access a visitor's Windows username and NTLM hash through the 'Save Page As...' feature.

Understanding CVE-2018-12402

This CVE involves a flaw in the internal WebBrowserPersist code of Firefox that lacks correct origin context, potentially leading to sensitive information exposure.

What is CVE-2018-12402?

The vulnerability arises when sub-resources are loaded during the 'Save Page As...' action, enabling a malicious page to retrieve a visitor's Windows username and NTLM hash.

The Impact of CVE-2018-12402

Malicious pages could access sensitive user information like Windows username and NTLM hash
SameSite cookies sent on cross-origin requests may result in saving incorrect versions of resources

Technical Details of CVE-2018-12402

This section provides more in-depth technical insights into the vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

The WebBrowserPersist code fails to use the correct origin context, allowing unauthorized access to sensitive data.

Affected Systems and Versions

Product: Firefox
Vendor: Mozilla
Versions Affected: < 63

Exploitation Mechanism

Malicious pages include resources to access visitor's Windows username and NTLM hash
SameSite cookies on cross-origin requests may lead to saving incorrect resource versions

Mitigation and Prevention

Protecting systems from CVE-2018-12402 requires immediate actions and long-term security practices.

Immediate Steps to Take

Update Firefox to version 63 or higher
Avoid saving complete web pages from untrusted sources

Long-Term Security Practices

Educate users on safe browsing habits
Implement network security measures to detect and prevent data exfiltration

Patching and Updates

Regularly update Firefox to the latest version to patch known vulnerabilities