Vulnary
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Critical· 9.8official fix available

CVE-2026-16351

A use‑after‑free bug in Firefox and Thunderbird lets attackers escape the browser sandbox, potentially running arbitrary code on the host. The flaw was fixed in Firefox 153 and ESR 115.38/140.13, and in Thunderbird 153 and ESR 140.13.

publishedJul 21, 2026
last modifiedJul 24, 2026
sourcesNVD
severity · cvss
9.8
critical · how bad it is
exploitation · epss
<1%
32th percentile · chance of exploitation in 30 days
(ai-assisted) A model wrote this summary from the official data, so double-check it against the source before you act on it. Read the official advisory →
auto-deletes from the system
counting…on Aug 22, 2026

An official fix is available, so this entry is kept for 30 days and then removed automatically.

01

Who is affected

Users running older versions of Firefox or Thunderbird before the fixed releases (Firefox <153, ESR 115.38/140.13; Thunderbird <153, ESR 140.13).

02

Real-world impact

An attacker could break out of the browser sandbox and execute code with the privileges of the user, leading to full system compromise.

03

Why this severity

The CVSS score of 9.8 reflects that the vulnerability allows complete compromise without authentication, with no user interaction required, and affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

04

What to do about it

official fix available
recommended steps
  1. 011. Update Firefox to version 153 or later, or to ESR 115.38 or later.
  2. 022. Update Thunderbird to version 153 or later, or to ESR 140.13 or later.

NVD-referenced vendor advisory

05

Timeline

  1. Jul 21, 2026 · 12d ago
    Published
    Disclosed and added to the National Vulnerability Database.
  2. Jul 23, 2026 · 10d ago
    Official fix available
    A vendor patch or mitigation now exists — see the remediation steps above.
  3. Jul 24, 2026 · 9d ago
    Advisory updated
    The NVD record was last revised.
06

How it’s attacked

Attack vectorNetwork (remote)
Attack complexityLow
Privileges requiredNone
User interactionNone needed
ScopeUnchanged
Confidentiality impactHigh
Integrity impactHigh
Availability impactHigh
07

References & advisories

(ai-assisted) A model wrote this summary from the official data, so double-check it against the source before you act on it. Read the official advisory →