Description
The Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) blacklist in Mozilla Firefox 3.0.6 and other versions before 3.0.9; Thunderbird before 2.0.0.21; and SeaMonkey before 1.1.15 does not include box-drawing characters, which allows remote attackers to spoof URLs and conduct phishing attacks, as demonstrated by homoglyphs of the / (slash) and ? (question mark) characters in a subdomain of a .cn domain name, a different vulnerability than CVE-2005-0233. NOTE: some third parties claim that 3.0.6 is not affected, but much older versions perhaps are affected.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 5.0 | icedove | 2.0.0.22-0lenny1 | DSA-1830-1 |
| Debian 5.0 | xulrunner | 1.9.0.9-0lenny2 | DSA-1797-1 |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 5 | firefox | 3.0.9-1.el5 | RHSA-2009:0436 |
| RHEL 5 | xulrunner +2 | 1.9.0.9-1.el5 | RHSA-2009:0436 |
| RHEL 4 | firefox | 3.0.9-1.el4 | RHSA-2009:0436 |
| RHEL 4 | seamonkey +5 | 1.0.9-41.el4 | RHSA-2009:0437 |
| RHEL 3 | seamonkey +9 | 1.0.9-0.37.el3 | RHSA-2009:0437 |
| RHEL 2 | seamonkey +9 | 1.0.9-0.33.el2 | RHSA-2009:0437 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | MozillaFirefox | 50.1.0-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2024:10071-1 |
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | firefox-esr | 128.5.1-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2024:14572-1 |
Advisories 6
- RHSA-2009:0436 Red Hat Security Advisory: firefox security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
- RHSA-2009:0437 Red Hat Security Advisory: seamonkey security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
- DSA-1797-1 xulrunner - several vulnerabilities Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- DSA-1830-1 icedove - several vulnerabilities Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:14572-1 firefox-esr-128.5.1-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10071-1 MozillaFirefox-50.1.0-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · May 7, 2025
References
- MDVSA-2009:111 vendor-advisory
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:11396 vdb-entry signature
- FEDORA-2009-3875 vendor-advisory
- 34894 third-party-advisory
- ADV-2009-1125 vdb-entry
- DSA-1830 vendor-advisory
- mozilla-firefox-homoglyph-spoofing(48974) vdb-entry
- [dailydave] 20090219 SSL MITM fun. mailing-list
- 34096 third-party-advisory
- 34844 third-party-advisory
- 35065 third-party-advisory
- [dailydave] 20090220 SSL MITM fun. mailing-list
- https://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-dc-09/Marlinspike/BlackHat-DC-09-Marlinspike-Defeating-SSL.pdf
- USN-764-1 vendor-advisory
- SUSE-SR:2009:010 vendor-advisory
- 33837 vdb-entry
- 35042 third-party-advisory
- 34843 third-party-advisory
- DSA-1797 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2009:0437 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2009:0436 vendor-advisory
- http://www.blackhat.com/html/bh-dc-09/bh-dc-09-speakers.html#Marlinspike
- http://www.mozilla.org/security/announce/2009/mfsa2009-15.html