Government Issues High Severity Warning For Mozilla Firefox Users, Here’s Why

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team has recently issued an advisory for the users of the Mozilla Firefox browser. The nodal agency has warned against the malicious program feature of the browser that has left users prone to cyber-attacks.

It is not the first time that the advisory has been issued. Last year, due to the increased cyber security threats like hacking and phishing, CERT-In issued the advisory. The pandemic, which led to increased use of online platforms, also resulted in a spurt in cyber attacks. This threat is one of them. 

What Is The Threat?

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has marked a “high” severity rating vulnerability in the browser. The cyber security agency issued an advisory for all the users.

The vulnerability in the browser can lead any cyber criminal to perform arbitrary code execution on the earmarked system. CERT-In pointed out this vulnerability due to the feature of use after free error in” libaudio”.

This feature, when used on Android API below version 30, can lead to attacks on the person’s system. The advisory read, “A remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by persuading a victim to visit a specially crafted website.“

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Is This The Threat To All The Users?

The malicious programs are risky. These programs can allow hackers access to sensitive user data and bypass restrictions. All the users of Mozilla Firefox have been alerted earlier as well.

This time the users of the Mozilla Firefox versions before 110.1.0 are at risk. The threat also exists on the Android version of the browser. Other versions of Firefox are not impacted by this vulnerability. 

How Can The Threat Resolve?

Mozilla has assured its users that the threat can be resolved with the update to version 110.1.0. Mozilla says, “A potential use-after-free in libaudio was fixed by disabling the AAudio backend when running on Android API below version 30. This bug only affects Firefox for Android. Other versions of Firefox are unaffected.” 

Mozilla Firefox has also acquired three new extensions for the Android web browser. These extensions have features like hiding the user’s email address, removing tracking elements, and listening to articles. 

The ‘Firefox Relay’ can help users hide their email addresses. This helps them to protect users’ identities, which enhances the safety of the users. This feature would not let digital companies collect email addresses for marketing and other purposes.

Online activities are an important part of one’s life, but with the growing technologies, many threats are waiting to attack the systems. The users of digital devices must be aware of the intricacies of the system, only then they would be able to dodge its threats.

Image Credits: Google Images

Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth

Sources: The Mint, The Hindustan Times, CERT-In

Find the blogger: Katyayani Joshi

This post is tagged under: Mozilla Firefox, browser, threat, cyberattacks, cybersecurity, Android, System, personal computers, Firefox Relay, features, online, digital devices, users, email addresses, extensions, targeted system, attack, remote attacker, The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT-In, advisory, malicious software, program

Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, or copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.

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