Software Engineering Institute

The Firefox web browser features the ability to open a hyperlink in the "search" web panel. Firefox fails to perform adequate security checks on links opened in the web panel. According to the Mozilla advisory on this issue:

Sites can use the _search target to open links in the Firefox sidebar. Two missing security checks allow malicious scripts to first open a privileged page (such as about:config) and then inject script using a javascript: url. This could be used to install malicious code or steal data without user interaction.

Updated versions of the Firefox browser disallow javascript: and data: URIs from being opened in the search Web panel. They also perform an additional security check to prevent privileged pages, such as about:plugins, from being opened in the search Web panel.

A remote attacker may be able to install malicious code on or read protected information from a vulnerable system.

Upgrade

The Mozilla Software Foundation has published Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory 2005-39 in response to this issue. Users are encouraged to review this advisory and upgrade to the versions of the affected software it refers to.

Workarounds

Users who are unable to upgrade to a fixed version of the software are encouraged to disable Javascript in their browsers.