thunderbird/seamonkey: privacy compromise via DNS prefetching
Published Jan 29, 2010
5.0
MEDIUMCVSS 2.0
EPSS 0.93%
Description
Mozilla Necko, as used in Thunderbird 3.0.1, SeaMonkey, and other applications, performs DNS prefetching even when the app type is APP_TYPE_MAIL or APP_TYPE_EDITOR, which makes it easier for remote attackers to determine the network location of the application's user by logging DNS requests, as demonstrated by DNS requests triggered by reading text/plain e-mail messages in Thunderbird.
Affected products
No data.
- n/a
- 3.0.1
No data.
No Red Hat product state for this CVE.
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
Not vulnerable. This issue did not affect the versions of Thunderbird as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and 5, and Seamonkey as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and 4.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 3, 2026.
Score over time
2022–2026- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (13 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 2026 | 0.93% (0.00934) | 59.41th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 0.93% (0.00934) | 55.94th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.25% (0.00250) | 46.42th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.27% (0.00269) | 68.69th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 10, 2024 | 0.21% (0.00207) | 58.47th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Apr 25, 2024 | 0.19% (0.00194) | 56.43th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 15, 2024 | 0.18% (0.00179) | 54.10th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Feb 8, 2024 | 0.16% (0.00164) | 51.74th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.27% (0.00269) | 62.63th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 1.05% (0.01055) | 52.13th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Sep 17, 2022 | 1.05% (0.01055) | 50.47th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 1.05% (0.01055) | 48.43th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.05% (0.01055) | 27.52th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (6)
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-4629 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=492196 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=560133 Issue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-4629
- https://secure.grepular.com/DNS_Prefetch_Exposure_on_Thunderbird_and_Webmail x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-4629
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-4629 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=492196 | x_refsource_CONFIRM | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=560133 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-4629 | ||
| https://secure.grepular.com/DNS_Prefetch_Exposure_on_Thunderbird_and_Webmail | x_refsource_MISC | |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-4629 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.