CVE-2019-9815 : What You Need to Know

A vulnerability exists in Thunderbird, Firefox, and Firefox ESR versions that can be exploited if hyperthreading is not disabled. This vulnerability is similar to previous Spectre attacks and affects systems running untrusted code in a thread.

Understanding CVE-2019-9815

This CVE highlights a timing attack vulnerability that can be mitigated by disabling hyperthreading on macOS.

What is CVE-2019-9815?

CVE-2019-9815 is a security vulnerability present in Thunderbird, Firefox, and Firefox ESR versions that can be exploited if hyperthreading is not turned off. The vulnerability is akin to previous Spectre attacks.

The Impact of CVE-2019-9815

The vulnerability allows attackers to perform timing attacks on systems that do not have hyperthreading disabled, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Technical Details of CVE-2019-9815

This section provides detailed technical information about the vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability arises from the lack of hyperthreading protection in Thunderbird, Firefox, and Firefox ESR versions.

Affected Systems and Versions

Thunderbird versions prior to 60.7
Firefox versions earlier than 67
Firefox ESR versions prior to 60.7

Exploitation Mechanism

Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by leveraging the absence of hyperthreading protection on affected systems to conduct timing attacks.

Mitigation and Prevention

Protect your systems from CVE-2019-9815 by following these mitigation strategies.

Immediate Steps to Take

Update to macOS 10.14.5 to benefit from the hyperthreading protection feature.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update Thunderbird, Firefox, and Firefox ESR to the latest versions.
Implement security best practices to safeguard against similar vulnerabilities.

Patching and Updates

Stay informed about security patches and updates released by Mozilla to address CVE-2019-9815.