Mozilla Security Advisory
July 7, 2004

Summary:    Windows shell: scheme exposed in Mozilla
Products:   Mozilla (Suite)
            Mozilla Firefox
            Mozilla Thunderbird
Fixed in:   Mozilla (Suite) 1.7.1
            Mozilla Firefox 0.9.2
            Mozilla Thunderbird 0.7.2


Description:
    Windows versions of Mozilla products pass URIs using the shell: scheme
    to the OS for handling. The effects depend on the version of windows,
    but on Windows XP it is possible to launch executables in known
    locations or the default handlers for file extensions. It could be
    possible to combine this effect with a known buffer overrun in one
    of these programs to create a remote execution exploit, although
    at this time we have confirmed only denial-of-service type attacks
    (including crashing the system in some cases).

Solution:
    We urge people to install the patch available on mozilla.org or
    install the latest version of the software.

    http://www.mozilla.org/security/shell.html

-Dan Veditz
Mozilla Security Group